Dino Crisis II: Jump into the Prehistoric
by L. Loire
Summary: STORY COMPLETED! This is a novelization of the second Dino Crisis game by Capcom, released for the PSone. Read and review! Rated T for violence. ALL CHAPTERS POSTED!
1. Prologue: One Year Later

**Dino Crisis II: Jump into the Prehistoric, **by L. Loire.

Note: This novel is a novelization of the second Dino Crisis game, released by Capcom. I do not own Dylan, Regina, David, or any of the aforementioned characters, events, and places. All of those are property of Capcom. This novel is being written for the National Novel Writing Month contest, also known as NaNoWriMo. Hope you enjoy it, and send me a review!

**Prologue: One Year Later**

_One year has passed since the "Third Energy" incident. Dr. Kirk's research on "Third Energy" has been taken over by a government agency, and massive research has begun at a base somewhere in the Midwestern United States. However, in their pursuit of immediate results, they have failed to take the necessary precautions, and once again, an accident has occurred. This time, the entire research base, military institution, and a small town close by, have disappeared. In their place now lies a jungle from another time..._

A huge lake, surrounded by lush green mountains, showed no activity. The waters were still, an easy tranquility evident throughout the area. Ambient sounds through the region mostly consisted of insects, and the occasional cry of a reptile, maybe the dull thud of a creature larger, but in this rainforest, thick jungle, the dull hum of possibly thousands of tiny winged creatures, many of which are extinct now. Flying low over the water, a pterodactyl was in search of fish swimming near the surface. Its eyes scanned through the clear water, and in one quick motion, snatched a wriggling fish out of the water, and soared high into the sunny sky. Suddenly, something was causing a disturbance in the center of the lake, as the water began to spawn concentric circles, generating very rapidly. Seconds later, the water began to bubble, and a brilliant flash of light originated a few feet above the water's surface, growing spherical in size. Cracks of electricity could be heard, with accompanying sparks jumping out from the expanding sphere. The noise grew terrific, and just when it looked like something was going to emerge violently from the water, the sphere opened wide, and a large object flew out of it, a ship of some kind. From its appearance, it appeared to be a hovercraft suspended in air, only briefly, before creating a huge splash as gravity brought it down. Seemingly unfazed by its rather unconventional entrance, the hovercraft proceeded rapidly down the lake, its destination not known yet. Onboard the craft, soldiers and personnel were moving to and fro, carrying items, weapons, provisions, whatever. One soldier stepped out onto the deck, his blond hair, cut with a mushroom style on top, while buzzed around the sides, blew in the wind. From the back of his flak jacket, the word T.R.A.T. was clearly visible.

_May 10th, 2010._

_We're about to step through a gate to another time. Or maybe it's another world. I'm being sent in with other members of T.R.A.T. (Tactical Reconnaissance and Acquisition Team)._

The T.R.A.T. soldier leaned on the railing, his dark blue eyes scanning the surface. Looking ahead, its destination was a dock, located a couple thousand feet ahead of them. As the craft began to reduce speed, another member of T.R.A.T. appeared on the dock, this one well built, donning a cowboy hat, laughing as he walked toward him and patted him on the back. A female stepped out on the dock, her short red hair draping down along her face, her features showing seriousness as she walked toward him.

_Our mission: to rescue 1300 survivors and collect data on the "Third Energy" project._

It looked like an army compound...well, it was. Soldiers and other assorted personnel walked throughout, and someone was banging metal somewhere. A soldier was busy organizing the weapons cache. Someone else was looking at a topographic map Indistinct chatter could be heard all throughout.

"Hey Sarge, where do you want this?"

"...a strange transmission coming from the GPS. There's something wrong..."

"Take a look at this map..."

Out at the edge of the compound, a lone soldier was examining his surroundings; after all, he was curious about this strange new place he was now stationed in. It's not every day one gets active duty...65 million years in the past. Deep inside the thick growth, he heard rustling, and instinctively, he raised his gun in the apparent direction of the sound. More rustling, and his heart began to quicken. Without warning, the tall ferns began to move, parting just enough to see the creature for a split second—before the jaws clamped around his body, the sharp teeth piercing clean through. He let out a loud wail that echoed throughout the compound, catching the attention of everyone, and quickly bringing a tense silence all throughout. The two T.R.A.T. soldiers and the female solider from S.O.R.T. (Secret Operational Raid Team) quickly turned their heads in the direction of the scream, only to find themselves staring at a dark green Velociraptor, holding the bloodied and mangled corpse of the soldier by one stained leg. Seconds later, the edge of the forest seemed to come alive as a loud rustling and moving of tall flora only signaled more danger. The compound looked on with shock and horror as suddenly, a mass of raptors broke out onto the compound, running at full stride toward the bewildered group.

A front line quickly developed and opened fire immediately, machine gun fire flying into the oncoming legion of reptilian speed, at first glance twenty or thirty. Everyone was screaming and firing now, as bodies of dinosaur and human began to litter the ground, the bullets ripping chunks of skin off and spraying blood all over the dark earth. Very quickly, the compound was heavily outnumbered as a massive swarm of them ran at them from all sides, numbering into the fifties or more, and they kept coming hard and fast, crashing into soldiers, ripping them into pieces, toppling them over and gouging their faces out. Screams of pain soon filled the compound, fast drowning out the heavy gunfire the remaining soldiers were administering. The blond-haired T.R.A.T. soldier turned around just in time, his shotgun firing, to see a soldier being jumped on from behind from a dinosaur, its massive teeth ripping into his back. He let out a wail of pain as blood quickly began to pool beneath him. Some feet away, a soldier saw a dinosaur leaping into the air in front of him, its jaws open, the soldier too scared to move letting out a scream, which was silenced when the jaws came down on its head, his skull giving off a sickening crunch as bone and brain melded together. The female, looking frantically around, noticed that the compound was lost, the onslaught of reptilian creatures decimating the entire camp, leaving just a few soldiers who stood a small chance of surviving.

_Feels all the same...all too familiar..._

She began to slowly retreat, firing her machine gun into the dwindling horde of dinosaurs. She'd only managed a couple of steps, until she ran into the blond-haired T.R.A.T. soldier. Now standing back-to-back, they began moving together as one, him firing his shotgun into the mass, her with her machine gun. When all seemed hopeless, suddenly the ground below shook violently, the soldier letting out a grunt of surprise. In unison, all the raptors lifted their heads to the sound, and on the next thud, all of them let out a screeching cry, turned hard about, and ran away as fast as they came. With the immediate threat over, but leaving the entire compound destroyed and maimed, something new was about to unfold. Another dull thud, louder this time, and closer, shook the compound. The female soldier's eyes grew wide, as if she'd known what was about to come.

Looking ahead, the tall trees began to bob and sway, the leaves rustling loudly, and yet another thud shook the ground, very close. Whatever it was, it was huge. Suddenly the trees parted enough for the two to catch a glimpse—

--and the T-Rex's head broke through the canopy, letting out a roar as a tree began to fall in their direction. She ran out of the way, the T.R.A.T. soldier diving out just before the tree fell on him. Instantly, she opened fire on the massive beast, but the creature seemed unfazed by these two, still walking toward them. The next thud sent him to the ground, and instantly he rose, and the two began to back away, firing. It seemed no use—the creature would be on top of them in seconds, and it seemed certain that the two had met its match.

"_Eat this!"_ someone screamed. She turned her head in the direction of sound, and saw the soldier in the cowboy hat, a rocket launcher on his shoulder. He pressed the trigger, and smoke flew from the back of the rocket, flying out of the launcher, heading straight for the dinosaur. Her eyes remained fixed on the projectile as it flew through the air. Seconds seemed to pass in slow motion, seeming like an eternity before the explosive flew straight into the T-Rex's head, sending it reeling backwards a few steps, the missile exploding on impact as chunks of charred skin and blood rained down to the ground below.

"Yes," the T.R.A.T. soldier whispered quietly.

"Yeah!!!" the cowboy yelled happily. As the smoke cleared, she quickly glanced at the damage done by the rocket—a massive, gaping hole where its right eye was had been blown away, and in its place, an awful amount of blood running down its head.

_That's not gonna do it..._

Quickly regaining its stance, the creature lunged forward and let out a loud, angry roar to them. Wasting no time, the two of them turned and ran as fast as their legs would carry them. In an instant, the wounded, yet furious T-Rex began to chase after them, its long, powerful legs moving quickly. It lowered its head, and smashed it into a truck filled with barrels, sending them flying into the air with a great crash. She looked behind, and saw it gaining on them—it would catch up to them in only a matter of seconds. The two ran through the dense jungle, going as fast as possible, until the way up ahead cleared—and they had stopped short, for they were now standing at the precipice. Down was a steep hill, which would take them into unfamiliar territory. He looked behind; saw the creature only a few hundred feet away. They would have no choice but to jump. The massive dinosaur broke into the clearing, lowered its head, opened its mouth, and began to sweep downward, and just before it could sink its teeth in for the kill, the two jumped into the unknown.

How is it thus far? Send me a review! Chapter 1 to be up shortly.


	2. The Cretaceous Welcome Wagon

_Author's note: In this chapter, the part marked in bold (Doctor's Note) is taken from the game. With that said, read on!_****

**Chapter One: The Cretaceous Welcome Wagon**

**_Initial Location: Dock/Carrier _****_Lot_****__**

****

Covered in dark brown earth, the two landed in a small, fenced-in area, two doors going in different directions. Checking themselves for any damage during the long tumble down the hill, there appeared to be no signs of major damage. Of course, there would be bruises, and possibly a few minor scrapes, but other than that, the two were fine, and most importantly, alive. The T.R.A.T. soldier held his pounding head as he slowly rose to his feet, the adrenaline wearing off.

"So this is the Cretaceous way of welcoming guests, huh?" he asked, talking to the female soldier. "Not exactly the red carpet treatment."

She looked around, noticed the two doors—one was covered in thick ivy, and the other apparently electronically locked. Looking down at her wrist intercom, she pressed the talk button, but got nothing.

"This is Regina," she spoke. "Anyone read me?" No reply. "Damn…nothing."

The soldier brushed himself off, and took a look in Regina's direction. "I'm pretty sure my team's alright…there's more than a thousand survivors." He began to walk to the ivy-laden door. "Let's get moving."

Regina walked forward to the ivy-bound door. She reached for the handle and gave it a few quick tugs. It wouldn't budge at all. Sighing, she turned to the soldier. "There's ivy wrapped around that door—it's too thick and won't open. Let's try the other one." She turned and began to walk the opposite direction.

He flashed a toothy grin, and pulled out his machete. "Aww, come on," he began. "Didn't they teach you how to open a door in training? Here. I'll show you."

He walked to the door and raised his machete high. "Watch this." He brought the weapon down, slicing a great chunk of the dark, green ivy. Another mighty swing, and more ivy fell to the floor.

Regina smirked. "Umm…yeah. That weapon _definitely_ suits a T.R.A.T. member. I prefer to go this way," she said, pulling out her stun gun, which looked more like a small light saber than an actual gun. See ya, Mr. Barbarian."

"The name's Dylan! Call me that when you need some help, okay?"

Regina touched the stun gun to the electronic lock, unlocking it. Without saying another word, she opened the door and left, leaving Dylan alone with his machete, taking notice of her buttocks as she walked off.

_She's a slick one…not to mention a hot one…_

Clearing that male thought out of his head, he returned to the priority at hand…the survivors. With another swing of his machete, he took enough of the ivy off to free the lock mechanism, and with a push, the door swung open. The door opened into a beaten path, probably signs of being a major thoroughfare for people. All around him, dense, thick green jungle, lending no possible visibility inside; in short, he was quite vulnerable—a raptor, or a creature more dangerous could leap out without warning. Dylan had to be on his guard at all times. He ran at a quick pace, his sight focused at looking at the path ahead. To his left was a fence, with a door blocked by a couple of metal crates. The path ahead branched off in opposite directions, both directions unclear of what lie therein.

A loud screech cut through the air, sounding way too close for comfort. His head quickly turning, he saw a raptor leap onto a large, worn metal crate next to him.

_You again…_

He raised his gun to shoot, when a second later, he heard another shrill screech, this one also close by, but different in location, judging by the rustling. His eyes shifted, giving him a peripheral view, and out of the corner of his eye, another one of the reptilian creatures was creeping up behind him. Just seconds later, another of the creatures broke through the growth several feet ahead.

He was trapped, surrounded by dinosaurs, slowly creeping up on him. The pounding in his heart grew, thundering in his chest, seeming as if each beat was amplified many times, possibly to where even the encroaching creatures could hear it. His finger rested on the trigger, his hand remaining steady despite the danger rapidly increasing. In unison, the three of them crouched into an attack position, looking as if all three of them would go at once.

_Wait for it…_

They opened their mouths, revealing rows of sharp teeth, able to pierce a human and rip him apart instantly. Each one of them let out a heavy _hiss_.

_Wait for it…_

The one atop the metal crate leaped, shrieking, its claw outstretched.

_NOW!_

With amazing reflex, he aimed the shotgun up at the leaping creature and fired off three rounds in quick succession, knocking the creature out of the air. The hot shells fired at point-blank range ripped into the creature's body, taking huge chunks of skin, muscle and blood out, raining it down on the ground near Dylan. A split second later, the one behind leaped into the air, attempting to get him from behind. The creature in front broke into a full run, its ugly head bent low, as if in an attempt to run him down. Dylan quickly dove to his side, out of the way of the running dinosaur, also missing the leaping creature. He aimed his gun at the runner, and fired another three rounds into the creature's backside, sending the thing stumbling to the ground, roaring in pain. It wasn't going to get back up, not with a good sized gouge torn into the left side of the reptile. It would be left fatally wounded.

The one remaining quickly turned around and ran toward the grounded soldier, its powerful legs giving it amazing speed—it'd be on him in just a few seconds. Lying on the ground, Dylan brought the shotgun to his face and aimed at the creature's head. It shrieked, a shrill screech of anger, let out another hiss, not knowing the fate Dylan was about to administer to it. It was just under probably a hundred feet away now--it would be on him in a couple seconds. It bowed its head low, ready to kill its prey—

--_BANG!_

The hot slug tore with lightning velocity into the creature's huge head, ripping a massive chunk of its jaw right off, sending bits of tongue, tooth, bone, and blood onto the surrounding ferns. The creature attempted a roar of pain, but let out a strange, gurgling sound as it began to choke on its own blood, coursing out of the newly-made orifice in its face. Reloading, Dylan once more took aim at the wounded creature, and fired another quick shell into what was left of the creature's face, taking whatever was left. The raptor stopped in his tracks, and fell quickly to the ground, blood quickly pooling around the lifeless corpse.

Dylan slowly rose to his feet, feeling a bit accomplished. He looked at the three dead raptor carcasses around him, and with a smug grin, he reloaded his shotgun and moved forward, whistling as he went.

His arrival at the water tower was a welcome relief to his tested body. The journey along the North Route to this point was ridden with raptors, which had left him out-of-breath, thirsty, but most importantly, he had become aware of how much ammo he had left. Breathing heavily, he propped himself against a wall, and began to catch his breath.

_There's just too many of them…they're everywhere._

For a brief instance, he considered calling for Regina, but quickly dismissed the idea, thinking that she was probably busy having her own time with the raptors.

--------------------------------

It appeared to be a safe zone, the water tower area fortified with high stone walls on all sides. Large pipes ran the length of the walls, stemming from the water tower located on a platform fifty or sixty feet away from Dylan's position. It was covered in what looked like rust, rendering it useless. He got up and began to walk, scanning the area for anything of importance. To his left, a tiny walkway leading to another door, of which would take him somewhere unfamiliar, perhaps to the survivors. He reached for the handle and pulled, but it wouldn't give. Locked. Turning around, he decided to investigate what was further down, behind the stone platform with the water tower. He walked back into open ground, when suddenly, a flying disk-like object whizzed past his ear, exploding a couple feet behind him.

_What the--?!_

A human figure, dressed in tight, tight black shorts, a tight black jacket, its face helmeted so as to not reveal identity, pointed a strange-looking gun at the alarmed T.R.A.T. soldier. Judging by the legs and curvature of the body, this was undoubtedly a female with an agenda to dispatch him for whatever reason. She fired another one of those disks at him, in which he dove out of the way. It exploded on the ground a couple feet past him. She quickly turned and ran, Dylan wasting no time in giving chase.  
"Hey! Who are you? Are you one of the survivors?" He called, but to no avail. He ran down along the corridor, behind the water tower, where the female figure shot another disk. Dylan ducked back behind the safety of the stone platform as the disk exploded into the wall next to him, pieces of rubble raining down on the ground.

_What the hell is she doing? Whoever she is, she doesn't want to be caught, that's for damn sure._

"Don't run away!" Dylan called from behind the structure. "I'm here to help you! We came here to rescue you!" He grabbed his shotgun and ran out into open ground—and the helmeted figure was gone, as quick as she had come, leaving no trace.

"What…?" Dylan began, his voice trailing off before the rest could be uttered. He quickly turned around, ran back toward the entrance, saw nothing, ran back to where he just was, also nothing.

_Who was she…?_

Just ahead of Dylan was another door, probably the one the female left from. Walking briskly, he opened the door, and his eyes saw wreckage. On both sides of the path, busted, twisted, and gnarled fencing lined it, the work of the jungle creatures. An overturned jeep sat jammed into a fence. Ahead, the path forked—to the left, the path went into a tunnel or something. To the right, the path veered to more unfamiliarity. Dylan on his guard now, he walked briskly through the ruin. At the fork, he glanced to his left, and noted the path into the tunnel was blocked—the ceiling caved in, and there was plant life growing all over it…there was no way for him to get around it. Glancing to his right, it was the only thing that seemed normal here, seemingly untouched. The worn path was lined with high fence, and at the end, another door. Faced with no other option, Dylan quickly ran to the door, and he saw, several hundred feet ahead, a clearing. He had stumbled into an open area of the forest, the path cutting through an open field. The surrounding plant life was high, but could be looked over. Ahead, the path opened up at the front of a facility, tents and tarpaulins covering up large objects. A couple of military jeeps were parked along the side of the road, and as the T.R.A.T. solider walked forward briskly, still on his guard, he noticed that it seemed like no one had been here in a long time. The jeeps fell into disrepair; a thick, unusual rust-like substance coated the metallic exterior. Looking inside one, he noticed ivy growing around the seats.

A slight breeze came through the area, rustling the surrounding ferns as he made his way up the road, toward the double metal door a couple hundred feet away from him.

_Now how will I get in? There has to be some sort of control panel or something…_

Arriving at the end of the road, he scanned the outer perimeter of the door, looking for some sort of open mechanism. His eye spotted a large button to the left of the door, its color faded.

_Did that girl go through here?_

He pushed the button, hoping that the opening mechanism would work. The sound of mechanical whirring and grinding gears confirmed his hope, and the doors opened.

It led to a large opening, the front of the facility looking very much in shambles. To his left, a massive pile of wreckage and large crates blocked any access that way. Straight ahead, a large crate blocked his path. Before he could make another step, a dull thud diverted his attention.

_Oh, shit…_

_CRASH!!!_

The air suddenly filled with a loud, massive explosion as it barreled through the massive pile of wreckage, sending rocks and metal flying in all directions. The T-Rex crashed onto the front of the facility, stopped and roared. Blood was still coming out profusely from where its eye used to be.

_Yep…him again.___

Once again, Dylan Morton found himself face to face with the one-eyed freak. As the dust began to clear and the creature walking closer, he looked for an escape. To the left of the crate, a ladder led to a path going around the crate. As the creature fixated its eye on him, he stood there, shotgun in hand, and glared at the creature. Just feet away from him now, the ground shook with each thud, but he held his ground. The creature lowered its head and let out a loud roar, and Dylan could see down the mouth of this creature, its massive jaw easily capable of swallowing him in one gulp. He felt the rush of hot, foul, rancid air coming from deep inside the creature.

"Back for more, huh?" he yelled to the angry monster. "Come get me, you one-eyed menace!" He quickly raised his shotgun and fired one directly inside the creature's mouth, ripping across his tongue, sending bits of muscle and blood outward. Before the T-Rex could react, Dylan bolted for the ladder, nearly crashing headlong into it. He quickly climbed onto the metal platform as the furious creature began to chase. With amazing speed, it nearly caught up to the soldier, only to be blocked by the crate. He jumped off the platform as he cleared the crate, and in his brief glance, he saw another ladder to a platform going to his left, since his immediate left was blocked by another crate.

The sound of splintering wood thundered through the front, like a dozen trees were all falling at once; the T-Rex plowed through the crate like it were toothpicks.

_Shit, that thing's strong…_

He scrambled up the ladder, his feet making loud clanging noises as he ran along the raised platform, taking the seemingly long way around. In his sight, he spotted two doors, not knowing where each one led, but at this point he didn't care—anything was better than this. Once he went around the crates, he leaped off the platform—

--and saw the helmeted woman again, this time with another one of equal dress, their strange weapons aimed at him.

_You picked the wrong time, ladies…_

_CRASH!_

As the massive creature broke through the crates behind Dylan, the two fired in unison, and his sharp reflexes enabled him to dive out of the way, onto his back—into the path of the T-Rex, which loomed large above him, one massive foot coming down fast. Quickly, he rolled out of the way, just missing becoming dino toe jam by a foot or two. He turned his head in the direction of the two women, saw them gone. He scrambled to his feet, and ran under the huge stomach of the T-Rex, straight for the closest door he could get to. He flung the double doors open, ran in, and slammed them shut. Outside, the creature let out another bellowing roar, but that didn't matter. He was safe…at the moment. While he stood propped against the door, catching his breath, he looked at his new indoor surrounding.

He had run into a room that seemed totally lifeless, deserted, abandoned. He was surrounded by stone walls, gray and discolored from neglect. In the center of the room was a centerpiece of sorts, the insignia of the Third Energy faded on it. As a result of time, the ceiling was gone, the metal beams bending from exposure. To his left was a door, but blocked by a couple of fallen beams, rubble and dirt. Light fixtures hung off the beams, barely being held by frayed and warped wires. The tiles of the floor were cracked, and there were parts of the floor raised, areas exposed where ivy was breaking through.

With the adrenaline wearing off, he began to walk the perimeter of the room. In a corner stood chairs and a table covered in mildew, and there was a reception desk. He ran his finger across it, and it came back black with dust. He couldn't even see through the glass window. Whatever this place was, it definitely appeared that no one has been here for a very long time, years possibly. According to the briefing everyone at T.R.A.T. received back at H.Q., it was told that the scientists had been here only briefly, a couple months. This certainly didn't look like the neglect of a couple months. His mind now curious, he noticed the door next to the reception desk, and upon entering, he found himself in a corridor, looking just as decrepit as the entrance. It was dimly lit, only illuminated by patches of sunlight that broke through the holes in the ceiling. It was silent as he made his way down the hall. It turned to the left, and he saw a door to his left. Next to it, he could just make out the words: "Medical Room."

_Maybe I could find something in here…_

He turned the knob and opened it, and a huge wave of rank, foul decay greeted his nostrils, the smell of death, and long decomposition. Slamming the door, he began to gag, the total stench of carrion something not what he expected. He put a hand on the door to brace himself as his stomach lurched, his body prepared to vomit. Willing himself, he held down the urge to toss up the contents of his stomach, his mouth tasting bile. Wiping the teary eyes, he pulled his dark blue muscle shirt over his mouth and nose, took a deep breath, and ran inside. Almost instantly, he noticed the cause—a half-decayed body of a doctor, evident by the stained white shirt, stained a dark, dark red, almost black, lie dead on the floor. Only part of his upper half remained, his legs gone. The skin over most of his back and head was gone now, bone remaining. Just beyond one skeletal hand were a shotgun and some shells scattered nearby. He quickly snatched up the shells and put them in his ammo pocket. On the patient bed next to him, he found a piece of paper splotched with blood, the writing faded but still legible.

**Again the day has come... January 14th. This is the day when the Third Energy accident occurred and we were sent to this time. This is the 10th time this day has come. And every time I feel the same, despair...the medical supplies from the Med. Room has all been used up in the very first year. Since then we've been collecting wild plants to make medicine without knowing its effect. Nevertheless, they were used in healing the wounds of the soldiers. And all we could do was to wait for the rescue.**

**Why haven't they come to rescue us? I've thought about the question for the past ten years and I have come to a conclusion. The Time shift or fold is cause by the "Overdrive" of the Third Energy. But our current technology level wasn't high enough to recover the "accident". Years of technology research still would not be enough.**

**A time error of 10 or 20 years is insignificant to a time slip of 65 million years. But that error, that time difference could mean everything for us. We should have never laid our hands on a toy so dangerous. We should ha--**

The writing ended abruptly, a line running right off the page, looking like he was attacked as he was writing it. Dylan ran out of the room to catch a breath. Meanwhile, one glaring thought kept poking at his mind.

_10 years? How could they have been here 10 years? That can't be right…yet it explains why everything looks so aged…did H.Q. screw up?_

He took another deep breath and walked back into the room, this time exploring the left side. When he turned the corner, he was greeted by another decomposing body, though not as decayed as the doctor. The tattered clothes identified him as a soldier. The bed next to him was stained a deep red and judging by the look of the body, he probably was attacked in his sleep, for the bite marks were still evident. It didn't look like a fight was had, appearing to be no signs of resistance. Looking around, he saw a case full of bottles, probably once used to hold medicines and solutions, but they were all empty now. Just out of the dead soldier's reach was a shiny, metallic object, looking like a key plate of some kind, and so he pocketed it. With nothing else in this room, and because the smell of fetor was getting through the shirt, he ran quickly out into the hallway, and continued on. The hall took another left, this time to a dead end—a door with an electric lock and a bare shelving unit was present. Without Regina's stun gun, he wouldn't get past this point. He'd make it a point to tell her when they met again. The only other thing he could do now was to see what was in that other part of the facility he had yet explored, which could possibly mean confronting the T-Rex again, and possibly those female figures. Turning back, he ran back through the hall until he got to the entrance once more, and with his shotgun loaded, he headed back out into open terrain, into vulnerability, and found himself wonderfully alone, the T-Rex gone. Despite the lucky break, Dylan ran straight, then to his left toward the other door.

Inside, he noted that this room looked totally different, and as he walked into a larger room, it was evident that this was some sort of hardware storage room. To his right was a shelving unit loaded with computers, and computer parts, which at this point in time, was useless to Dylan. To his left, there was a small panel of some kind. As Dylan walked closer, he noticed it was a case of some kind, a red light adorning the side of the case. There was a slot for an object. He fished out the key plate, thinking that maybe this key plate would do something, but he wasn't expecting it. He inserted it into the slot, and the case opened, revealing a small plastic card. Examining the card, it had the Third Energy logo on it, and on the back, in small print, two words: "Research Facility."

Suddenly, red lights started flashing all throughout the room, and an annoying siren began to blare loudly through the room, startling Dylan.

_An alarm…?_

A female voice cut through the grating siren, calm and collected.

"You have inserted an incorrect key; trespasser confirmed. This door will be locked."

_Fuck!_

Quickly turning, he saw a door coming down in the doorway, and he ran, possibly hoping that he could get through, but he was too slow, and the door shut, leaving him trapped inside. He banged on the door, but no luck. The female voice repeated the message.

_Oh, fuck you!_

He went to his wrist intercom and spoke: "Can anyone read me?"

Nothing for a few seconds.

"_Someone_ answer me…David, Regina, over!"

Regina's voice came over first, sounding sarcastic or annoyed. "This is Regina, over."

"Regina," Dylan began, "I'm trapped. I'm at a military facility and I need your help, over."

Regina chuckled. "Aww, did you swing your precious machete around? Did you have a male moment? Just what I'd expect from a member of T.R.A.T. Well, I guess I can help you out."

Dylan was in no mood for humor. "It's not funny, Regina."

"I disagree," Regina said. "It's quite humorous. I'm on my way."

"I'll put a key in front of the door as a mark." He took the Research Facility card and slipped it under the space between the door and the ground.

"Don't let me down. Over and out."

END OF CHAPTER 1. How do you like it so far? In the next chapter, Regina goes to free Dylan, but what happens? It'll be up in a few days.


	3. Femme Fatale

Note: Once again, the section marked in bold is a document taken from the game.

**Chapter Two: Femme Fatale**

_**Initial Location: Dock/Landing Space**_

_He got himself trapped...quite amusing,_ Regina thought, as she climbed up the ladder onto the landing space. She chuckled to herself as she scaled the last rung, climbing onto a big opening, with large crates in the center. They looked old, for their color was fading, and ivy began to snake its way around the sides. Straight ahead, a door with an electronic lock glowed red. Pulling out her stun gun, she touched the end of it to the lock, resetting the lock, the light changing over from red to the confirming green. Opening the rusty door, the hinges squeaked loudly, evident that no one's been here for a while. It opened to a path, leading to a rickety-looking wooden suspension bridge. A foul stench suddenly filled her nose, a pungent odor of death. Looking down to her left brought the answer—a dead soldier sat in a pool of his own blood. Judging by smell, he had been there a while. Regina also noticed this: tiny, little dinosaurs were eating pieces of skin off his rotting body. The little creatures, almost bordering on cute, were jumping up and down excitedly. She couldn't help but smile, but feel bad for the misfortunate soldier.

Suddenly, the ground seemed to give a little as Regina heard a dull _thud_.

_Him again?_

At the first sound, the little Compys scattered, running across the bridge, their little legs scurrying to safety. As Regina too began to walk the hopefully steady bridge, she looked down—and sure enough, it was the T-Rex, the very same one with the eye missing, walking slowly below her, each step loud and ominous like the sound of many deep bass drums. Not wanting to stick around any longer, she walked slowly across the remaining span, and quickly ran to the door, her handgun drawn as she slowly opened it. She ended up back into thick jungle, a thin path snaking its way through the dense vegetation. Walking quickly, her mind and body alert, she followed the S-shaped path, noticing the large boulders along the sides—perhaps a makeshift fortification, she didn't know. Another door stood several feet away, and as she made her way through, the first thing she noticed was the air—ever since the hovercraft jumped into this time, the air had taken on a humid texture, but here, it felt really warm and muggy. As she walked along the South Route, her shoes found themselves running into soft earth, and she could hear a squelching noise—the ground was quite saturated. Up ahead, Regina noticed the path was lined with wooden planks. She had probably walked into a marshy area, and suddenly she felt a tiny prick on the back of her neck.

"Ow!" she yelled quickly and slapped the back of her neck. When she pulled away, she found a smeared mosquito on her fingers.

_Great..._

Walking atop the planks, she noticed the path split up ahead. Straight ahead led to a door, a yellow sign next to it, and a brown sign with faded white lettering below that; to her left, the path continued on to unfamiliar ground. As she approached the door, her eyes could make out the words, and she read them aloud: "Warning! The marsh area ahead contains poisonous plants that emit toxic spores—life-threatening if inhaled. Do not enter unless you are equipped with a weapon of incendiary quality." Then she looked at the sign below—the lettering was faded, but readable:

WATER TOWER: **¼ mi**.

THIRD ENERGY MILITARY FACILITY: **¾ mi**.

_Well, looks like I won't be going there just yet...just a little longer, Dylan. You're a guy, you can deal._

Her only option was to bear left. As she walked, she heard some rustling. She stopped dead in her tracks and pointed her handgun in the direction of the sound—nothing. Moving quickly, she went through the door—and she walked out onto a large clearing. Ahead, she saw a large stone structure, probably a wall of some kind, a door at the base. The path disappeared a few feet ahead, a vertical drop down below. The worn road continued on, and a ladder led back up. Atop the raised earth appeared to be an abandoned military jeep. That section of path led straight to the double doors. Jogging, she hopped onto the lower level, and followed the beaten path to the ladder up. As she gripped the first rung, she felt the ground shake as a loud thud, sounding extremely close, thundered through the area.

Another quickly followed, then another.

_The T-Rex again?_

She heard a roar cut through the air, then she heard the sound of crunching metal. She looked up—and saw the jeep looming over her, starting to topple. Regina fell backwards off the ladder, rolling out of the way as the jeep hit the ground, _bouncing_ oddly away, missing her by a few feet. Scrambling to her feet, she picked up her handgun off the floor, and saw it. A large dinosaur, smaller than the T-Rex but still many times larger than Regina _leaped_ off the raised platform, causing the surrounding earth to shake, causing her to stumble. Its dry, reptilian skin was mostly blue, its underside a pale white, its legs very thick, bulging with muscle.

_Run!_

Her pistol would do nothing, so she began to take off, practically running up the ladder, her muscular legs moving as fast as they could. Looking behind, the creature let out a roar, then leaped onto the earthen platform and began to run, moving quicker than the T-Rex. Almost instantly, the creature lunged, its large mouth wide open, ready to snatch her up. She dove to her side, just missing the head by a foot. With lightning reflexes, she got up and continued the dash to the double doors, hoping to escape from the Allosaurus. She nearly crashed headlong into the metal doors, her arms extending forward, bracing for impact as she hit the door. Her hand gripped the handle, and she bolted inside, slamming the door behind her, then slumping to the floor as the adrenaline shock quickly dissipated.

_Oh, the things I do for you, Dylan...you better be thankful. Damn, that thing's quick...there might be a chance I have to go through there again. Maybe I'll find something here that I could use to stand up to that monstrosity. One question remains, though...where am I?_

She had jumped out of the frying pan...and into a desolate wasteland. Just feet ahead of her, a pile of worn-down, useless, rusted machinery sat, as thin tendrils of ivy snaked their way around.

_Nature eventually reclaims everything._

To her left, a ladder led up to a raised metal platform lined with thick pipes, also covered in rust and ivy vines very thick, almost as if they were choking the very life out of the plant itself. She couldn't see beyond that, and so she rose to her feet and climbed up to the platform. When she cleared the machinery, she leaped off the platform, and to her immediate left, a door covered in ivy.

_I'll have to tell Dylan to come check this out..._

To her right, a door led to something indoors, and ahead was another bridge; however, it was broken—impossible to get across. Entering the door to the Control Shack, she found the room deserted. Computers lined the desk along the wall to her right. Beginning her sweep, she noticed some apparent personal belongings on a shelving unit along the right-side wall, along with some pipeline. Some of the items were covered, maybe to protect them. Curious, she lifted some of them—after all, no one would come to claim the items. Along the shelf, there were books, laptops, some tools. As Regina peered at the covered contents, she came across something that greatly piqued her interest: lying on the shelf was a gun-like object, a can attached to the rear of the gun, a strap attached to it.

_Flame launcher! A new toy!_

A big grin came across her face, for now she had something to go through the Marsh/Poison Plant area with. She pulled the can from the gun and shook the contents a little—it was mostly full, and she hoped it would be enough. Putting the handgun back in her holster, she screwed the can back on the gun and put the strap over her.

_Did I mention I like fire?_

Continuing her sweep of the area, she noticed the center table, strewn with notebooks and papers, reams of data, scribbled handwritten notes. Out of curiosity's sake, she picked up one of the many sheets of paper, and judging by the writing style, it looked like it was a panicked hand. It was legible, but looked rushed, as if something bad was occurring, or something was happening.

**The recovery of the Timegate seems impossible with the limited resources we have in this world. Today was supposed to have been the last hopeful experiment. However, the lack of instruments stopped us from conducting this experiment. One week ago, the transport team lead by Lieutenant Wolf was supposed to bring us the instruments for the experiment. They never arrived. Something must have happened in the Military Facility. We still haven't been able to establish communication with them. If we still intend to go ahead with the experiment we need to go to the Missile Silo on the other side of the suspension bridge, but the bridge was destroyed in a recent combat. The only other way to the other side is through the deadly poison zone. It is too dangerous to even go near the area. **

_Missile silo? Huh? Just what did the government plan to do with Kirk's work on the Third Energy? Bad enough this happened, but what exactly don't we know?_

She'd make it a point to report her findings to Dylan. With nothing else in the room, she made her exit. As soon as she stepped out, something flew by her, missing her head by inches. Whatever it was, it exploded some feet behind her. She quickly looked, and at the edge of the bridge, three mysterious figures, obviously female, pointed strange-looking guns at Regina, and a second later, two more disks flew from their guns, whizzing for Regina. She dove out of the way, the disks exploding on hitting the ground. The trio all wore the same—black rider jackets, short, tight black shorts, and all of them wore helmets, hiding their identity.

_What the hell?_

The two in the rear fired again in unison, then turned and ran toward the chasm behind them. Regina took out her stun gun and deflected the disks, avoiding a potential death.

"Wait!" Regina called. The two mysterious women in the rear leaped in the air, and the third turned to run, and Regina began to give chase, her handgun now drawn.

_Mess with me, you bitches?!_

"Wait! I'm not going to hurt you! I'm here to help!" she yelled, only for the third one to turn, point her gun, and fire another strange projectile at her before running again, following the two that cleared the gap. As she prepared to jump, suddenly the wooden planks gave way, and she raised her hands in the air, her gun flying out of her hand, as she began to disappear from Regina's view.

_No!_

The unfortunate female grabbed onto a plank for dear life, her grip failing quickly—she'd fall to her death hundreds of feet below in a few seconds.

"Here! Grab my hand!" Regina said, kneeling down and quickly grabbing one of the girl's wrists, just as her grip failed. Quickly, she pulled the girl up, and wasting no time, the girl scrambled away from her, scurried away to a wall, obviously panicked. Regina rose to her feet and walked calmly toward the girl, who was trapped, and unarmed. She grabbed her by the shoulders, and the girl wriggled, trying to free herself, emitting muffled sounds of fear. With one hand, she attempted to take off the helmet, but the writhing girl made it difficult.

"Just hold still!" Regina yelled, and the clasp came loose. What emerged was a girl, her hair blond, short, tapered at the sides. Her blue eyes were watery, and transfixed in fear and panic. She gazed at Regina, looking at her short red hair, now wild, staring in her dark, brown, determined eyes, the stern Asian face, her thin body, noticing her gray uniform, and the weapons and items she carried around her waist—a set of handcuffs, a pocket for ammo, things of that sort. The mysterious girl looked in her mid-20s, her skin a pale, creamy white, laden with sweat. She grabbed the girl's wrist firmly, and pulled her to her feet. The temporary calm was once again replaced by struggle as the girl tried to free herself from Regina's unusually tight grip.

"Come on," Regina said, not in a mood to compromise. They walked into the Control Shack, the girl emitting whining noises, grunts, still trying to free herself, trying to escape. She pulled the girl in front of her, and pinned her to a pipe, holding onto her wrist while she took the handcuffs and successfully cuffed her wrists behind the pipe. The girl yelled in protest, and struggled to get free of the cuffs, but she wasn't going anywhere.

Regina walked a few steps back, and just looked at the captured girl. "Listen, young lady. I didn't want to do that to you, but you left me with no other choice." And now she had no choice. She had to continue on, back through the jungle, to go through the marsh, and get to the Military Facility.

_She's not going anywhere, and I'll be back with Dylan._

"I'll be back shortly," she told the girl. No reaction from her. On that, Regina turned and walked out of the room, and turned to her left, back up onto the platform, and out the door, back to where she encountered the Allosaurus. Luckily, it got bored and left, and she was clear.

-------------------------------------

She saw Dylan sitting behind the locked door, his back to her. When he heard footsteps, he turned, got up, and saw Regina's sexy figure, her face smirking. She bent down and picked up a green key-like object.

"There you are," Dylan said, relieved. "I was wondering what happened."

"Mr. Barbarian got trapped, I see," Regina said, trying to hide a smile.

"Yeah, yeah, shit happens," Dylan agreed, his face turning red. That was a blow to his ego, and as much as he tried to hide it, Regina noticed.

She held out the key plate. "What do I do with this?"

"See that control panel to your left?" Dylan asked. She nodded. "See how it's blue? I think there's a key that matches that color. I found that key in the facility, and I saw a similar control panel in this room, red in color. However, I put that key in, got the contents, then an alarm went off, and I was trapped in here."

"Smooth," Regina said sarcastically. "Where do I find the key plate?"

"There's a room in the facility that was electronically locked, and I couldn't go past it. You might be able to unlock it with your little light saber thingy, and find something in there. Check it out."

"Gotcha. Back soon." She turned around and prepared to exit.

"Wait, hold on a minute," Dylan interrupted. "What's that toy you got there?" He asked, referring to the flame launcher.

"Flame launcher. I'm about to chuck it...the fuel's gone." She quickly left.

"But—ahh, women. I hope she hurries up," Dylan said, and sat back down on the floor.

_Good thing she's alive..._

-------------------------------------

Mustiness. Neglect. Abandonment. As she walked down the hall, she thought these things.

_What used to take place here?_

Ivy was breaking through the floor in places, and she looked at the discolored walls, curious.

_If this was a military facility devoted to the Third Energy, what was done here? _When she reached the end of the hall, she found the locked door, and she chuckled as she unlocked it.

"_Light saber thingy..." What is this, Star Wars? Besides, it's too small to be a light saber...maybe a light dagger._

The doors opened, and quickly, she noticed the room was in stark contrast to the rest of the facility. Monitors and grids towered high above her, lining the room, computers and control panels in front of abandoned swivel chairs. Obviously, a control room of some sort, she walked slowly, absorbing it all in, her mind spinning with wonder and intrigue.  
_Maybe Rick could make sense of all this? I wish he wasn't positioned elsewhere...I'm sure he'd be fascinated._

The room took a right, and at the end of it, there stood a panel set into the wall, and it contained the key plates.

_Bingo._

There were six key plates, each one of them in their own corresponding color slots.

_How cute—they're arranged like the colors of the rainbow...red, orange, yellow, green, blue, violet. _

Below the key plates, a message: "The key plate system is designed so that only one key plate can be in use at a time. To change key plates, put the one in use back in its corresponding slot, and take the new one."

_Simple enough. Which one did Dylan need? Blue? Blue. _

She placed the green key plate back in its slot, and pressed the button for blue. A quick little mechanical whirr, and the blue key plate was in her hand. Her objective done, she ran out of the room, and back to Dylan.

As she entered the Hardware Storage, Dylan was standing there, waiting for her, his arms crossed and a smug grin on his face.

"What took you so long?" He said, still smiling that _male _grin.

Regina paid him no mind, and quickly put the correct key in the control panel. The lock released, and the door opened. The S.O.R.T. soldier looked at him and smirked.

"Nice to see you too," she began. "You owe me one. I found a young female survivor. But, she was uncooperative. I locked her up in the Control Shack. I'll take her back to the ship. You go on ahead, I'll meet you there."

----------------------------------

_**Location: Hovercraft**_

She was struggling all the way from the Control Shack to the hovercraft. Once they were inside and the door was locked, she released her grip, and the girl ran around, darting around, moving quickly, scared for her life. Her eyes darted back and forth, and her head kept turning, glancing at her new surroundings, at Regina. She ran for the door, but Regina held her back, gripping her by the wrist like a young infant.

"Just try to relax," she reassured. "What is wrong with you? You're a survivor, right? Please, we're here to help you." No response from the girl. "What's your name? Where are all the others? Where's your family?"

She didn't say a word.

Behind her, Dylan appeared out of the ship cabin. His face looked solemn. "Regina, you better take a look at this."

Letting her go, she followed him into the cabin, and she was greeted with a most distressing sight. The entire cabin was trashed, from top to bottom. Wires were pulled, broken, hanging from the ceiling. The metal shelving running along the top of the cabin was bent, twisted, broken. Ahead, the Timegate appeared all right, but neither was too sure. Belongings and items were broken and strewn everywhere—this clearly was not the work of dinosaurs.

"It wasn't dinosaurs," Dylan opened, obviously perturbed. "Someone must have gotten in here and trashed the place, the computers, everything." He walked toward the center of the room and looked in a small compartment in the floor. "They also damaged the engine activator—the starter battery is missing. We can't move our ship."

Regina looked along the sides of the Timegate, and found the activator, broken, pieces of it missing. "The activator for the Timegate is broken too." As she said that, a frightening thing came to mind, something she could not admit, but now had to:

_We can't get back to our own time._

How goes it thus far? As always, feedback is welcome. Chapter 3 will be up in a few days...Dylan heads to the Research Facility, with some questions on his mind. What will he encounter? Find out when I post Chapter 3! 


	4. Beneath the Ivy

Note: Again, boldface type is a document from the game.

**Chapter Three: Beneath the Ivy**

_**Initial Location: Hovercraft**_

"...we can't get back to our own time," she uttered softly, her mouth forming the words as she thought them. A wave of panic shot through her, and for a couple seconds, shock and sudden pessimism gripped her, feeling hopelessness, that they were stuck here together, in this time, with no way of returning to the present.

"Regina?" Dylan called, his face drawing a look of concern. "You ok?"

She shook her head to clear her mind, coming back to reality. "Yeah, yeah. It's nothing."

Dylan shrugged. "Ok. Whatever you say." He walked over, saw the damaged activator. "It must have been those people with the helmets."

Regina looked at him, her face lined in thought. "Possibly, or perhaps another group of people we haven't come across."

"We'll have to look for something in this world in order for us to get back to our original time. We also need to find parts for the ship," Dylan concluded. "But...the question is where? This area's largely unfamiliar to both of us."

"On my way to the Military Facility, I happened upon another facility. Check that out—I couldn't get in."

"How do I get there?"

"At the landing area," she began, "there are three doors: straight ahead will take you to the undiscovered facility. However, that area is marshland, and treacherous. There's one to the right of that, which has been unexplored. The one on the far right opens to where we ended up at the bottom of the hill. Check out the unexplored section first—it might be a shortcut. Or, it might take you back to the marsh. Whatever the case, take a look there first. This one's yours, properly suited for that sword thing you're wielding. So tell me, does that sword compensate for something you lack?" She burst out in laughter.

Dylan chuckled. "It's no worse than your light saber thingy...I don't want to know what you use that for. Anyway, I'll head out." He turned and walked to the door.

"Oh, before you go," Regina began. "Handcuff the girl so she doesn't run away."

"Right."

When Dylan appeared in the cockpit cabin, the girl's eyes grew wide, and she began to panic again as he approached her. She darted to one side, attempting to evade him from within, but she was trapped. Dylan grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her to some pipes in the corner of the room. She struggled, and let out moans of disapproval, but she was no match for his firm grip.

"Calm down. Just calm down." He implored her, taking her wrists and putting them behind the pipe. "I'm here to help you. Look, I have to make sure you don't escape." He wrapped one cuff around a wrist. "Trust me."

She seemed to understand that, and she stopped struggling, her bright blue eyes growing wide in surprise.

"Heh..." she said, reaching up with her free hand and touching Dylan's hair.

"Hey," he said firmly, not expecting her reaction. He took her wrist and put it behind the pipe. Quickly, she cooed once more and pulled out of his grip, touching his blond hair once more.

"What are you doing? Stop it." He gently brought her wrist down, and cuffed the two together. He stared into her face, now looking fascinated. "What's the matter?"

_Was it something I said? Is she trying to tell me something?_

Getting nothing else out of her, he turned and walked out onto the deck, his shotgun in hand. He climbed up the ladder, and once again, he was on the landing space. Hopefully, he wouldn't encounter anything on the way there.

_The door to the right of the one straight ahead..._

Easily found, he ventured through, and once again, he was back inside thick jungle. The path led to a drop, in which a small brook passed through. A small waterfall seemed to trickle down a massive boulder to his right, and a ladder led up out of the brook, onto a raised platform. He reached one hand to the ladder, and felt it all slimy, slick with algae. When he got to the top, he wiped his slick hands on his pants, and pressed forward, the path once more dipping into the brook. He ran through, the water ankle deep, covering most of his waterproofed boots. Ferns and small trees protruded from cracks in the boulder, and a tiny cave, apparently carved away by years and years of erosion, offered a possible place for a dinosaur to reside. As Dylan scanned the water, his eye caught something shiny at the edge of the cave. He reached down into the cold water, and fished it out. It was a plastic card of sorts, white, with the Third Energy logo on it. Turning it over, he noticed some words below the magnetic strip: "Third Energy Facility." He pocketed it, and walked quickly to the ladder, pulling himself out of the babbling brook. Ahead, the path continued to the right, leading to a door. As Dylan looked through the fenced door, he felt a sense of familiarity, a feeling like he'd already been here. As he opened the door and walked into the area, he took a quick glance around, noticed a metal crate to his right, and the wrecked jeep to his left where a path split.

_I'm back on the North Route...this'll take me back to the Military Facility. _

He turned around back through the door, and went back through the brook. As he reached the landing, his mind began to wander again, thoughts spinning--that note he found in the Medical Room of the facility nagging at him, the strange reaction from the girl, and his heart began to grow heavy, wondering what he'd find in the Research Facility.

_It's as if she recognized me. How? I've never been to this time. She must be confusing me, mistaking me for someone else. I wish she could speak, that way I wouldn't be confused, and much would be cleared up. How long have they been here? Years? But...they said that this whole thing occurred one year ago...but the note said ten. Something is oddly peculiar about the whole operation. Hopefully I can find something in the facility to further shed light on this whole mission. _

He saw the suspension gate through the fenced door. Hoping to find answers, he pressed onward, hopefully without too much trouble.

-------------------------------------

A row of rusty, broken-down, ivy-laden obsolete machines blocking his path heralded his arrival at the Research Facility. A ladder leading to a platform sat to his left. An eerie silence provided a tense ambience throughout the area. Dylan's heart was pounding, despite the "tough guy" persona he was exhibiting. As he leaped off the platform, he saw the entrance to his left, totally covered in ivy, just as Regina had mentioned. Ahead were the broken bridge and the Shack, and as Dylan's curiosity began to be aroused, something in his mind told him to come back to the mission at hand. Drawing his machete out, he let fly a mighty swing, hard and fast, taking a large swath of ivy with it. He sliced again, the thin tendrils falling to the concrete floor at his feet. After he felt he took out enough ivy, he reached for the handle, and it gave.

Immediately, he noticed a total contrast from the realm outside. He was now in a wide, open space. The main floor of the Research Facility was huge. The first thing he noticed—a huge, wide ivy vine had forced its way through the side, and many hundreds of smaller, thinner vines branched out everywhere—all over the floor, to the demolished escalator some feet away from Dylan, creeping down through the floor. He took a step forward, and the sound of glass crunching beneath him almost drowned out the sounds he heard just feet away to his right. A few seconds inside, a foul, rank, onerous odor invaded his nostrils—the scent all too familiar; the smell of death, decay, decomposition, fetor. The rancor, the stench of it, left a foul sensation in his mouth. As he looked to the right, he found the source—a raptor lie dead, its skin pale, slimy, clammy-looking. Six or seven of those Compsognathus, or "Compy" for short, were gnawing away at the dead dinosaur, chomping off little pieces of skin and muscle for themselves.

_The bottom of the food chain..._

Sunlight filtered in through the open ceiling, which at one point was probably glass; most of the panes were gone or broken. A tattered flag hung from the gray ceiling, gray like everywhere else in this building, the Third Energy logo on it. He examined the escalator, saw it totally damaged, as his eyes moved up to the second floor. Large sections of the floor were missing, and the railing was bent, twisted at odd angles. A couple hundred or so feet straight down from Dylan were probably three windows at the turn, dark green ivy making its way inside, spilling onto the floor.

_This has been abandoned for a very, very long time. Growth of the ivy like this does NOT take a year, not by ANY stretch of the imagination. Just what happened here?_

He began to walk down the corridor—when suddenly, a blob of yellow, thick fluid rained down from above, splashing just a couple feet away from him. He quickly stepped back, startled. The viscous fluid sizzled and bubbled at his feet, giving off smoke, and it ate the ivy it landed on.

_Acid? Poisonous acid?_

A shrill, high-pitched cry was heard, sounding like it was above him. Dylan raised his shotgun in the direction of the sound, and appearing above him, a new dinosaur not yet seen by him. It was small, shorter in height, and slender. A raised patch of skin ran over its head, giving the dinosaur a Mohawk-like look. It had scaly blue skin, with black splotches here and there, and its reptilian eyes glared at the alerted T.R.A.T. soldier. Its thin legs made the creature spry. It leaped high into the air, and as it was, he heard another shrill cry was heard to his immediate right. Quickly glancing, he saw another of the same leap over the thick ivy, almost looking like it was jump-kicking the air. Behind the one in front, another one, this one looking slightly different in skin tone—instead of blue, it was various hues of brown with black splotches—leaped through a window, and began walking slowly toward him, as the closest one landed. Dylan quickly found himself cornered, the three of them coming in from various sides. He could run out the door, but before allowing the three to get any closer, he opened fire at the closest one—and saw the head explode as the shell tore through the creature at point-blank range. Pieces of muscle and bone flew out in an arc, crimson blood splaying the floor below. The one to his right hissed, and squatted, its mouth open, ready to fire another shot of the sickly yellow acid.

Dylan wouldn't give it the satisfaction of pulling that again as he fired two shells in rapid motion. The first one ripped into the dinosaur's throat, opening a massive hole that quickly began to bleed profusely. The second cut a deep wound through the side of the abdomen, sending the creature down quickly.

_Two down..._

The third, a hundred feet or so away, quickly broke into a run, screeching and hissing, as if angry. Dylan quickly reloaded and set his sight on the approaching creature, his hand steady. It crouched down low in its run, its mouth wide open. The creature called the Oviraptor leaped into the air, one clawed foot outstretched as if it was jump-kicking—and he fired three rounds quickly, and the outreached foot disappeared in an explosion of claw, skin and blood. It let out a shrill cry of pain as the shells tore clean through, ripping massive gashes in the creature's soft abdomen as skin flew. It was as if it stopped in midair and fell, giving one last cry before finally dying, a pool of blood already starting to form around the mutilated Oviraptor.

_It's like these dinosaurs have been practicing martial arts or something._

He chuckled, amused at his own joke. With that threat done, he proceeded down the length of the walkway, and it turned sharply to the right, and he found himself going back in the same direction—the walkway was a big U, and all it did was just make a U-turn around the massive ivy vine in the center. At the end of the walkway was a set of double doors. He reached for the handle—and it didn't budge. He failed to see the electronic card reader on the side of the door, the light red.

_Duh, Dylan._ _Thanks for reading this far. Obviously I did inhale. _

He reached into his pocket, pulled out the card he found in the Military Facility, and slid it through. A confirmation beep was heard, and the light glowed green. Again, he attempted the door, and it opened into a passage, another hall, this one again a contrast to the previous surroundings. The entire hall was very dimly lit; the concrete walls and metal floor making everything look copper-colored. There were massive holes in the ceiling, and ivy, an opportunistic plant in nature, grew thick and long in every orifice. Dylan pressed forward, his boots clanging loudly against the metallic floor, echoing. There was a door to his left, covered in some ivy. The hall also went to his right, then turned and disappeared. Glancing to the right, the hall ended at another door, again with a card reader. On the wall, another door. He decided to explore the area to his left first, drawing his machete while doing so. Not as much ivy this time, but he chopped enough off to un-jam the door. When he entered, the new room looked very much the same. The copper concrete walls seemed to be crumbling in places, and as a result of years of disuse, ivy had forced their way through the walls. It lined the floor, and much of the wall. A ventilation shaft down near the floor was open. He walked slowly, cautiously through. Even though he heard nothing, it didn't mean anything. As he made his way through, he couldn't help but feel the pounding in his chest, the sweat lining his brow.

_Just what were they researching here?_

A large, rectangular object, upon closer inspection, a power source, stood out to his left, the fencing around it broken in parts, and rusted away. He turned down an opening to his left, and he saw a new sight—he had come upon a nest. Seven or eight large eggs sat nestled in vibrant, green vegetation, and a new wave of thoughts invaded the soldier's mind:

_Holy shit, those are some big eggs...one can feed a whole squad. But...where there are eggs...I don't want to encounter the mother. _

Making his way downward, he saw another door, ivied, the vines thick. He hacked at the door with the machete, green liquid spraying as he sliced clean through the thick vines. Kicking the remnants to one side, he entered the new room, and suddenly he felt as if he were inside an indoor jungle, a biosphere, as ivy literally covered the entire ceiling. In the corner of this new room, a computer monitor sat on an ivy-covered desk. Another nest, this one smaller—three eggs—sat on the ground a few feet from Dylan. With his machete drawn, he progressed further, noticing a small open room which had a couple of cages in it.

_Were they keeping dinosaurs in here? Other specimens?_

To the left, the room opened up into a wide area, as folding beds were propped up in disarray. On the wall adjacent, a medicine cabinet, its contents empty. A small table with a microscope stood to next to one of the folding beds. At the end of the room, a door.

_Probably a lounge of some sort, maybe a medical room?_

Walking stealth-like, he pressed his whole body to the door and turned the knob, slowly, slowly, and he realized something—he'd been here before. He was back out in the main hallway; he recognized the large door to his left. The hallway remained quiet as he bore left, down the hall. He recognized the card reader on the door's right this time, and so he sheathed the machete, and took out the proper keycard from his pocket. He swiped it, and the light changed to green, the confirmation beep approving the card. The metal doors made a whirring sound, then slid open.

It was dark, and there was something totally not right about the whole situation at all. A knot grew in his stomach as he stepped into the room, feeling at once as if he stepped into a new, bizarre, surreal world. The room was large, the ceiling tall, and looked industrial, the walls lined with gray piping, with lights embedded within. The entire floor was covered in that all-encompassing ivy. As Dylan walked further into the room, it was evident that this was a laboratory of some kind. Six huge test tubes lined the room, as wide as a semi, and reached up to the ceiling.

_Where the hell am I?_

Thick, fibrous ivy spanned most of the test tubes, and as he walked over the ivy, a strange smell wafted over his nose—the smell of some sort of preservation fluid mixed in with the smell of lab chemicals and heavy flora mixed to form an acrid odor. His mouth was open in awe, totally amazed at what he'd just come across. He walked forward, his boots crunching over shattered glass, the floor slick with that preserving liquid. As he looked inside the first test tube to his left, his eyes scanned, seeing that there was something in there, but the thickness of the ivy provided too small of a window for viewing. Drawing his machete, he carefully cut some of the ivy away, being mindful that the tube was glass. As he pulled back the last of the ivy, he let out a shocked cry and stumbled back, dropping his machete, hitting the floor with a loud _clang_ that seemed to amplify and echo a thousand times.

_It's a man! No...not a man...a...boy. _

A young boy, probably no older than eighteen or nineteen floated intact in the tube, his eyes closed, his mouth slightly turned downward, as if he was in a deep sleep. Two long tubes stuck out from his back and out the tube.Suddenly, fear began to grip him, and with a shaky hand, he bent down and picked up his machete, not knowing what to do.

_What the hell were they doing here? What's going on?! They never told us this—that we'd find innocent people suspended...in tubes? Just what was the government trying to do?!_

With his heart pounding inside him, he continued forward, his eyes darting, scanning the other ivied tubes for others, but they were shattered, broken as a result of the ivy's tight grip. At the end of this room was a control panel, with papers strewn across it. At the base, there was a compartment for something, and a brown rectangular object sat on the floor, next to the cover. He reached down to pick it up, and he breathed out a sigh of relief as he looked at the object—it was a starter battery, similar looking to the one back in the hovercraft.

_Regina will be happy...however, I'm not leaving this room yet. _

Dylan couldn't leave—he felt something inside him, telling him to stay there a bit longer, telling him to try to make sense of what he was seeing, telling him to inquire, desire, clarify—everything. He rummaged through the sheets of paper on the control panel, but none of them were readable—writing faded, papers ripped. He happened across a packet of stapled papers, the writing typed, probably a journal of findings or something. Faded, but readable, he placed the battery down, turned to the first page and began to read.

_**Another dead body of a youth was carried in. As expected he was not a resident of Edward city. If this is really true then only possible conclusion is he and the others might have come from another time. Could such a thing be possible? These past few months, youths about the age of 17 or 18 have shown up before us and attacked.**_

He turned the page, and he saw a color photograph enclosed. It was a familiar figure to him...it was one of those helmeted females, her gun drawn.

_**Communications with these youths have not been successful, but rather impossible. Today we plan to remove one of the bodies out of the preservation liquid and conduct an autopsy. The result of the autopsy will be reported to Colonel Maison, who is dispatched at the 3rd Energy facility.**_

_Now it makes a little more sense...kind of. They're apparently not survivors...but just what are they? Another life form?_

He folded up the document neatly, and put it in his pocket—he'd have to show Regina. Now, with a little bit more of a glimpse as to what _really _happened here, he picked up the battery, and began to walk out, his mind still not fully sure that what it was seeing was indeed real. The double doors slid open, and without a glance back, he walked out, the doors closing behind him. An eerie, surreal silence filled the lab once more.

The boy just floated, lifeless.

Thus ends Chapter Three! As always, feedback and constructive criticism welcome! In a few days, Chapter 4 should be posted. Now that Dylan's found the starter battery, the ship can finally leave the jungle area. Where will they go next?


	5. Aquatic Ruin

**Chapter Four: Aquatic Ruin**

_**Initial Location: Hovercraft, Jungle Dock**_

She heard the cabin door open and shut, signaling Dylan's return. Hoping that he had found something useful for the ship, she walked into the cockpit and found Dylan kneeling on the ground, a pair of released handcuffs in his hand.

"She's gone," he said softly, sighing.

"Uh...yeah, I can see that," she said sarcastically. "I also noticed something weird while you were away."

"Oh?" Dylan said, looking at her curiously.

"I went into one of the computers on this ship and checked on all the stats of the residents and soldiers, but I couldn't find anything matching her profile. It's like—it's like she _doesn't_ exist."

He stood up and began to walk to the front. "Well, I have a theory. Maybe, just maybe, she's not one of the survivors at all."

"What?" she said, confused.

"What if those helmet people are from a completely different time than us?"

"Huh? What _are _you talking about?" she asked, bewildered.

"I found this document in the Research Facility. Read it." He took out the folded papers and handed them to Regina. As she read, Dylan walked over to the control panel in front. It portrayed a map and three bright red dots, the dots representing docks. One of them was flashing—the one they were currently at. Two more were left unexplored—Edward City, and the Third Energy Facility itself.

Still holding on to the battery, he turned to face Regina.

"This is strange shit, Dylan...just what the hell was going on here?" she asked, her facial features showing astonishment and confusion.

"I don't know...hopefully we can find more insight as to what we weren't told, what really happened here. There are two places left unexplored: The Third Energy Facility and Edward City. Here, catch." She looked up as he tossed the starter battery, and was caught.

"What matters now is that we find survivors and other helpful data. For that, we search elsewhere. I want to explore the Third Energy Facility, and hope to get more data. Also, we might find another activator for the Timegate."

"Agreed," Regina nodded. "I'll put the battery in—you get ready to go when I give the ok."

"Got it." She ran with the battery into the cabin. Dylan went to the control panel and made a course for the facility, punching in the necessary buttons. A minute or so later, Regina gave the ok, and he pressed the ignition button. The hovercraft shook and hummed for a few seconds, the mechanical components grinding, then made a loud hum, and settled down again. The battery worked. Regina came back out of the cabin.

"Let's go," he said. She hopped into the driver's seat, and pushed a large lever forward, grabbing the steering wheel. Very quickly, the hovercraft accelerated, speeding across open waters, leaving a path of white foam as the craft glided effortlessly along the seemingly tranquil waters. Suddenly, after only going out maybe a half mile, something hit the hovercraft, making the ship shake violently. Dylan let out a grunt as the shock sent him to the floor, Regina almost falling out of the seat. Whatever it was, it was _huge_.

"What the hell was that?!" Regina cried, anger in her voice.

"It was no rock, I know that," he replied, getting up. The mysterious thing slammed into the boat again, knocking Dylan against the wall, his body slamming heavily into the metal.

"Something doesn't want us getting there," Dylan said through gritted teeth. Just ahead of the ship, moving quickly, the mysterious creature rose out of the water, its long neck keeping pace with the ship.

_A Plesiosaurus..._

"Oh, this is gonna be a fun joyride," Regina said silently. Another one of the blue and white skinned creatures rose out of the water, letting out a high screeching cry.

"I'll go out and take care of them! You keep this boat on course!" Dylan said, running to the door, when another slam from a Plesiosaurus rocked the ship violently. As he crashed into the wall, he could hear the motor spike up to a high whirr as the right side of the hovercraft rose out of the water for a second, then slamming back down again with a massive splash. Regina was fastened to her seat.

"You ok?" She called out.

"Yeah," he replied, clutching his hip. "Back in a few." As he ran out to the deck, he could hear the roar of several of the long-necked beasts. He climbed a ladder to the roof of the hovercraft, where the heavy machine gun was attached, and the magazine of ammo stretching all the way down into the craft—he need not worry about running out of ammo. He released the safety, aimed at the closest one, and opened fire, the roar of gunfire drowning out the sounds of the hovercraft. The rapid firing bullets tore into the head of the closest one, ripping large holes, bloodied. It let out a roar of pain, swayed, and then collapsed into the water. Repositioning, he aimed at the closest one and held the trigger, making mincemeat out of the next, making the head resemble something of a dartboard. Looking down in the water, he could see a large, dark shape swimming next to the ship, judging by length many times larger. He pointed the gun down and opened fire at the massive body. In seconds, an angry Plesiosaurus rose out of the water, its long neck reaching for the T.R.A.T. soldier. Dylan fired from several feet away, the sheer speed of the bullets at point-blank range slicing straight through as blood and skin shot out, landing in the water, swirling and mixing with the foam.

The boat made a slight turn to the right, and so far, it was tranquil.

"Halfway there," Regina called over the loudspeaker.

He heard a screech coming from the air. Turning around, he saw a Pterodactyl coming down out of the sky, its long, bony wings fully outstretched, descending. He turned the gun around, aimed it up, and opened fire. The hot bullets slammed into the body of the winged beast, shot straight through the thin membranous wings. It let out a cry, and crashed into the ocean. It was quiet—for now, anyway. He scanned the water's surface for more of those Plesiosaurus creatures, saw nothing. Nothing else was in the air. Several minutes passed, and Dylan could see something in the distance—a dock, and a concrete structure many feet out of the water, with something looking like a satellite or radio antenna on top.

_**Location: Third Energy Facility**_

Her voice came on the loudspeaker again. "We're pretty much there. Thanks, Dylan. Nice shooting—did you spend a lot of time at the arcade?"

He chuckled, and went down the ladder. When he walked in, he saw Regina looking straight ahead.

"Duck Hunt, Regina."

She laughed and whacked her head in mock stupidity. "I should have known." She pulled a lever back slowly, and Dylan could feel the hovercraft slowing as the craft approached the dock. A minute later, the craft came to a full stop, and she shut the hovercraft down.

"We're here," she said, unfastening her belt. "Let's go." Leading, she stepped out onto the deck, walking slowly across the platform, Dylan in tow. As she made the initial steps onto the Facility dock, her mind suddenly flashed images, flashbacks to Ibis Island, and the Third Energy facility there—what she found, what went horribly wrong. Even though this wasn't the Ibis Island facility—that got destroyed—she couldn't help but feel a sense of déjà vu. Only this time, there was no Rick, Gail, Tom, Cooper, or Dr. Edward Kirk, the man who started it all.

_We're old friends, you and I..._

They were surrounded in a huge block of open water, surrounded by concrete walls on all sides. The narrow walkway turned ahead to the right to a gate, but just ahead was a crate, a small storage area with wooden and metal boxes that have since rotted and rusted. Nothing of importance here. Dylan followed her closely as the walkway turned to the right, to a gate. As she opened the gate, she heard a distant screech in the air. Dylan raised his shotgun and scanned the sky. He could see nothing. Giving a quick nod to Regina, they continued along the walkway. The path seemed to go around in a sort of circle, the door some distance on their left, but to get there; they'd have to travel the length of the walkway, lined with a rail. Dylan noticed some floating debris in the water, but other than that, nothing of major importance as they walked the path, making it to the next door. As they ventured onto the third part of the walkway, the two spotted a large building, the same one Dylan saw on the ride to the facility, straight ahead

The walkway turned left to another door, this time, Dylan taking point as they ventured into the new area. There were several large crates, storage areas along the sides. The two progressed further, walking quickly. To their left, a truck had crashed into the concrete wall, leaving the front of it totally smashed. The concrete façade was crumbled in places, and fuel had trickled out onto the ground. Regina inhaled, and she noticed a slight smell of decay, the smell of death all too familiar to her. Ahead, on the wall, was in fact, a dead body.

"Check that body out for ammo," Regina told Dylan. He walked quickly to the dead soldier; judging by the look of the uniform, it was one of T.R.A.T., and it was evident that he'd been there some time. There were many small holes in his cold, pale body, with pieces of skin and muscle missing, most noticeably, a rather large section of his stomach. The marks all over his body showed evidence that he was probably attacked by a group of Pterodactyls, and he couldn't take them all. A group of flies had congregated on his face, probably in the process of making larvae, maggots. Dylan reached into the pockets of his flak jacket, and came up empty.

_Someone got here before we did..._

She came walking up behind him. "That looks attractive."

Dylan chuckled, and stood up. "He's empty. I think those winged creatures got him, just looking at the bite marks."

"Hmm..." Regina said, "Let's move on. There's a door just behind you."

"Right."

"This door is electronically locked—did you find a keycard or anything?"

Dylan fished through his pockets and pulled out two keycards.   
"Let's see...Research Facility...don't need that anymore, ahh—here it is; Third Energy keycard." He gave it to Regina.

"Let's hope this works," she said, swiping the card through. The light flashed red, then switched to blue, a beep confirming the correct card.

"All right," she told Dylan, "let's go."

The door opened to reveal...some more walkway. However, this would be the last bit of walkway—at the end of the winding path, there was a tunnel going up, its destination the building with the large antenna on it.

"Watch your step here," Dylan told Regina, looking down at the cracked path. "It's cracked—might be weak in places. Tread lightly."

It took a left, and actually went over a tiny craft, but nothing was of importance. To their immediate left stood two tanks, probably fuel tanks, which had since rusted. Finally, they had reached the end of the walkway, and Dylan opened the door. No more could they hear the sounds of gentle water and the occasional cry of a Pterodactyl high in the air—they had walked into silence, save for their own footsteps as they clanged against the metal stairs. Climbing up the two flights, they finally had gained entry into the Third Energy Facility—only to find it completely and utterly deserted. Not a soul, not a trace of any life remained, just as in the jungle. Computers lined the walls, and a large set of computers and control panels stood in the center, along with some papers.

"Damn it," Dylan said through gritted teeth. "No one here—again. How the hell are we supposed to fulfill our mission if there's no one around?"

Regina shot an annoyed look at the angry soldier. "Dylan—the mission has changed. The mission changed the moment that T-Rex burst into the compound—the mission is no longer a simple search and rescue. Face it, Dylan—there _are_ no survivors. This place, the jungle, all over—is deserted, gone, bereft of all human life, except for those helmet people. It's no longer a simple mission, a simple order directed to you to save people. You weren't told the whole truth, Dylan..."

Her face softened. "As was I...this is all too familiar to me. I didn't think I'd be dealing with the Third Energy again—I thought it all got destroyed with Ibis Island...I thought Kirk's work had since ended. Don't you see now, Dylan? We're trying to clean up the government's mess!" Tears began to well up in her brown eyes.

Dylan's face changed, the anger no longer present, but a soft look, a look of being apologetic, came across. He walked over to Regina and held her in a gentle embrace, and she buried her face in his chest and sniffled.

"I'm sorry," he said softly. "I didn't know it affected you like this...I'm deeply sorry."

"I volunteered for this mission because I had already known the abilities of the Third Energy, its destructiveness when used improperly, when it's in the wrong hands. The government knew what happened at Ibis Island all along—they knew what Kirk was doing—they were just using us. Then after they finally got a hold of all of Kirk's work, they used it for their own ends, failing to heed any of the necessary precautions when utilizing something so dangerous. And again, something unfortunate happened in their haste for results...and we got thrown in here to pick up the pieces. Now, we can't get back to our own time...I should have just left when I could've."

"Regina? Look at me," Dylan said, his voice gentle. She looked at him, her eyes red and watery, her cheeks wet from tears. With one calloused hand, he wiped her tears away.

His deep blue eyes gazed into hers. "Then how could you live with the fact that our government has been doing these terrible things in secret? It would gnaw at you forever. You came back here because you wanted closure, some answers."

"That's true," Regina said, her voice choked.

"And you know what?"

"What?"

"We _are _going to get back to our own time, and we can finally end this. For now, we must continue to learn more about this Third Energy, and we shall use the data to get out of here."

A smile started to form at the corners of her mouth. "I'd like that."

He embraced her again, a smile forming. A few seconds of tense silence passed between the two. "I'm sorry for what I said."

She let out a nervous chuckle. "That's ok, Dylan. Let's press on—there seems to be nothing in here."

"You got it," Dylan agreed. "Now, there are two doors in this room, it looks like. One appears to be an elevator, and one goes out to the storage space again. I say we take the elevator—there's nothing out there."

"Agreed." Regina said, wiping one tear away. "But it looks like it has another one of those silly card readers next to it. Swipe that keycard you have, maybe it'll work."

"Worth a shot," he said, fishing the keycard out of his pocket, and running it through the reader. It blinked for a couple seconds, then flashed green, a beep confirming correct card. The door slid open, and the space was only wide enough for one person.

"You go first, Regina. I'll be right behind you."

"Ok. See ya there," she said. "One more thing."

"Yes?"

"...thanks," she said softly, smiling, then closed the elevator door.

It was a straight, narrow hallway, short and simple—door at the direct opposite end. Dylan had appeared through the elevator, and Regina motioned with her head for him to take point. All around them was that industrial, cold gray, once again bringing flashbacks of the Ibis Island facility. Large pipes and wires went all along the length of the walls, the pipes disappearing into the walls at the end. Where they stemmed off from was unknown, but probably something huge. At the end of the hall, the door slid open, and the two found themselves in a very large room, brightly lit. Again, silence was the current ambience in this section, save for the hum of electricity. In the center of this room was a lower platform, covered in a couple inches of water. A control panel stood on it. This was an elevator shaft, probably heading down underwater.

A ladder led down from the platform they were on, and Dylan was already several feet ahead of her, climbing down to the shaft. Two large crates were on the platform, and Regina followed suit soon after. At the other end of the elevator platform, a ladder led up to a small platform, on it four little enclosures. She squinted to get a better look—she made out one object in one of the enclosures, but was too far away to confirm. Dylan had already made it there, and stopped. Regina caught up to him a few seconds later.

"There's _one_ diving suit," Dylan said calmly. "Which means only one of us is going down there, the other has to turn around."

Regina pushed a button next to the enclosure, and the door mechanically opened. She took out the yellow suit—it was a complete suit, totally enclosed diver's mask, full body suit, waterproofed boots, but this had a couple of unique features on it: this suit had an internal oxygen feature—no external tank required. There was a device on the suit, small device, which filters the oxygen out of the water itself. Attached to the device, a tube ran up the back to the top of the neck, into the diver's helmet, always giving him or her oxygen. Also in the enclosure was a weapon, a sleek, shiny, silvery weapon that looked like a grenade launcher of sorts. The back of the barrel opened up, allowing for the entry of a small explosive projectile, of which there were four. The projectiles were attached at the waist, two on each side, a clasp holding them firmly to the diver. All the diver has to do is release the snap, grab one of the projectiles, slam it home, aim, and fire.

"Hot shit," Regina said out loud.

"I'll say," Dylan agreed. "There must be something down there, which is why these come with it. Now, the question is, who goes?"

Regina unfolded the entire suit, and put it up next to her body. "Looks like it'd fit me fine. Try it on you."

He put the suit on his body, and it was clear that he wouldn't fit—he was too big for it.

"Looks like it's me," she said, reaching for her items around her waist.

"I don't know," Dylan said skeptically. "There might be something down there—when you're in there, you'll have absolutely no contact with anyone. It'll be all you, and if anything were to happen to you—"

"_Nothing_ will happen to me," Regina said firmly. "I've come too far to die now. I'll tell you what—give me a couple hours. If you don't hear from me in two hours, then chances are, I'm probably dead. However, I intend on finishing here in quick time."

"Regina—" Dylan tried to cut in.

"—has made up her mind, Dylan. There could be something of importance down there, there might not be anything down there. It's worth a shot. Meanwhile, while I'm down there, you go explore that other possible area, Edward City, see if you can come up with anything there." She held her weapons out for Dylan to take

He sighed, taking her weapons, realizing that he was going to get no further with her. "All right. You win. But you've got two hours. That's it."

Regina turned around and took her combat boots off, and began to slip into the yellow diving suit. Dylan, of course, being male, took particular note of her buttocks as she bent down to put on the waterproofed boots.

_Damn, she is hot..._

His eyes remained transfixed on her shapely butt, and as wonderful images began to form in his mind, he could feel something between his legs also reacting to his trip into hormones and erotic thought. Dylan could feel his penis becoming hard, starting to feel desire begin to creep into the corners of his mind.

"I know you're staring, Dylan," she said casually, and very quickly, Dylan could feel the blood rushing to his face. He knew he was red with embarrassment, blushing. He felt his face become hot, and all erotic thought quickly left his mind, and his penis quickly retracted. Beside himself with shame, he turned around, his back facing the sexy soldier. Regina couldn't help but stop and laugh heartily, knowing she caught Dylan dead in his tracks, caught him staring at her. It was obvious that she was an attractive woman, but there was something comedic about this whole situation, something that amused her when she caught a guy practically ogling her. Dylan let out a nervous chuckle, pulling on his shirt collar to let out the sudden heat that had accumulated in his moment of failed lust.

After she was fully clothed in the suit, she reached around and wrapped her arms around the embarrassed T.R.A.T. soldier, and he let out a sigh of relief.

"Sorry, Dylan," she said, her voice muffled by the helmet. "I had to. The opportunity was there—you left yourself wide open for that, and so I had to nail you on it."

He chuckled. "What can I say? You're hot!"

She laughed, "well, thank you for the compliment. You're not so bad looking yourself. Maybe we'll do something after we get back to 2010."

"I'll take you up on it. For now, though, I hope we can find something of importance down there," Dylan flashed a grin.

She took the weapon and climbed back down the ladder, onto the elevator platform.

"Don't worry—I'll be back. When I come up, I'll signal you by radio."

"Got it. Be careful down there—I'd like you very much alive."

She pushed a couple buttons on the control panel, and the silence of the area was quickly broken by the sound of mechanical gears grinding and moving. The platform began to descend, and the water line began to rise.

"You can count on it, Dylan."

The water rose to her chest. "Damn, it's cold!" she said, muffled.

He chuckled. "Get used to it!"

"Gee, thanks!"

"Good luck, Regina! Return safely!"

The water had rose over her head, and as Dylan could make out the last wavy sight of Regina, he flashed her a thumbs-up. In seconds, she was gone, disappearing into the watery abyss of the facility.

_Please, God, let her live through this. Please make her come back all right._

He stayed there for a couple of minutes while the elevator descended, his heart and stomach beginning to tighten uncomfortably, fear and nervousness starting to creep inside.

_There's now nothing more you can do, Dylan—you'll just have to wait. Get to Edward City._

The elevator had stopped, the gears now silenced. With him serving a purpose no longer here, he turned around and left, the only sounds now his own receding footsteps.

"_Warning. Object blocking elevator shaft. Commencing emergency shutdown procedure."_

--------------------------------------------

And so, the end of Chapter 4. Regina now heads into the underwater facility. What will she find there? How is it so far? Let me know! Chapter 5 to be up shortly.


	6. Water, Water Everywhere, but Not A Drop ...

**_Chapter Five: Water, Water Everywhere, but Not A Drop to Drink_**

**_Location: Third Energy Facility, Underwater_**

"Shit!" Regina said aloud, annoyed at the elevator.

_Picked a perfect time to get stuck..._

She kicked the control panel, but to no avail—the only sounds she heard was the sound of her breathing—the underwater facility provided a strange, quiet ambience. Low rumbles could be heard, probably the hum of machines or other technical workings. She looked at the brightly lit screen of the control panel; saw an error message flashing in red. She pressed buttons, anything, all of them, nothing. The panel, as the elevator, locked. Currently, she looked around her, and was presented with two options—one, swim back to the surface; or two, there was an emergency walkway along the wall, leading to a ladder down to a platform below, probably containing a door leading into the facility proper. The annoyed solider looked at the panel again, and pressed buttons in vain, hoping that by some chance, the elevator would start up again. Her efforts proved futile; the lift was stuck.

She didn't notice a low rumble in the water some feet away from her, didn't notice the huge alligator-like aquatic dinosaur, its dark brown skin and massive jaws intent on preying on the bright yellow object in its view, didn't see it until it was just a foot or two away from her until she turned around and stared straight down the creature's gullet.

_Fuck—shit—fuck—fuck--!_

She pressed a button on the suit, which released some oxygen into the water, making her lift some feet into the air, her foot just missing the jaws of the Mosasaurus as it clamped down, catching all water. Its sleek, almost aerodynamic body turned away very quickly, Regina noticing that the creature, for its large size, was very mobile.

_What the fuck are you?_

As she began to descend again, she grabbed the Aquagrenade from the holster, and released a catch on one of the small explosive projectile rockets, and slammed it into the back of the weapon. About thirty or so feet ahead, the dinosaur turned around in a tight arc, and began to swim toward the diver again, determined to get its prey on this pass. She aimed the small weapon at the Mosasaurus as it narrowed the gap between the two, and pulled the trigger. The rocket fired, its rear propeller spinning furiously as the projectile glided quickly through the water. It slammed into the creature's neck, exploding on impact as a large amount of blood flowed from the massive tear, swirling and mixing with the cold water, staining it. It let out a roar on impact, but the creature was dead instantly, and Regina knew it. It flipped over on its back, the white underside facing upwards as it slowly descended to the metal ground. Blood trailed in large quantities from the open wound, mixing and churning with the disturbed water. A loud thud echoed throughout the area as the dinosaur hit the floor.

_That was a little too close for comfort...now, the elevator's out—might as well take that emergency path, see where it goes._

Due to her new, watery environment, the boots that she wore were heavy, designed to make it so that the diver was able to walk on the ground. She stepped over the dead dinosaur, and she leapt off the edge of the platform, descending slowly for about ten feet before softly landing on the platform. At the end of the walkway, a door was marked, "Water Circulation System Control Room." Next to the door stood a large white button set into the wall. She pressed the button, and the door slid open, allowing her entry into a new room, a narrow hall lit by little lights set into the floor. It turned to the right, and as she turned the corner, she happened upon a side area, almost cubicle-like in structure. It was a three-walled control panel of sorts, a large screen in working condition the main focal point. Judging by the grid-like structure of the screen, she deducted it was a map of some kind. A flashing yellow blip represented her current position in relation to the underwater facility. Some distance away from her position, far to the right, a section of the grid was a solid red, indicating some sort of trouble in that area. Below the map, an error message detailed the problem: "No power being supplied to Inside Cooling Aqueduct area—plug missing or malfunctioned. Check to see if the plug is properly in place, or if there is damage present. If plug is damaged or missing, replace it to restore power to the area."

She looked down at the panel, and noticed a large hole where a plug would fit. Judging by the size of the hole, it was probably a spherical object four inches in diameter, and probably five or six inches long—it was hard to tell given the lighting.

_Next problem—where do I find one? It's not like I know the layout of the facility or anything. _

She continued on down the hall until it led to a drop-off point to an area below. Next to her, four large pipes, as wide as a human, bent into the floor, leading to somewhere. As Regina descended, she made out two doors, one on either side of her. The door to her left was barricaded and chained, a yellow caution sign hanging, reading: "Area closed due to preventative and routine maintenance of the Third Energy Reactor."

With that possibility ruled out, she could only head one other direction—the double doors on her right. Another large white button was set into the wall. She pressed it, and the door slid open slowly, the mechanical gears grinding as it was working. She had walked into a large, wide hallway, lit by lights set into the wall. As before, the entire area had a bluish hue, and the only sounds that were heard—the hum of machinery, the sounds of water moving and bubbling as oxygen and carbon dioxide from Regina escaped into the water, her own normal breathing and the beating of her heart, seeming to echo in this aquatic environment. It appeared to be a transport passageway of some kind, as a couple of crates stood propped up against the walls. The passageway went straight for a couple hundred feet before veering off to the left. As she turned, a row of crates stacked two high blocked her path, but gave her enough room to boost over them, to the door on the other side.

She pressed the button beside the single door, leading to another room. This one was a little darker, but the lights in the wall provided enough ambient light to see. This room was multi-leveled, a small footbridge above her and off to the left, bridging two platforms. They were too high for her to boost up to, but as she looked up, she made out a strange object, something hanging over the side of the nearest platform. Through the translucent water, she couldn't get a clear view, but it was something bright. She positioned herself along the wall and boosted up. As she neared the top of her ascent, she could make it out clearly—it was the helmet of a diver's suit, one lifeless arm dangling over the side.

_He must have been doing some work...perhaps one of those water dinosaurs had got him...what were they called, Mosasaurus, something like that? Something they told us at the briefing sessions..._

Straight ahead, about twenty feet or so, a small elevator lift stood next to a door at the other end of the room. Boosting over a length of large pipe, she walked into the small lift and pressed the button to go up—nothing happened. She hit it again, again with no response. Either it was busted, or no power was being supplied. With no other option, she headed into the next room, a massively huge room, machinery and panels lining most of the walls. Pipes ran across the entire length of the ceiling, and this room was divided into two levels as well. Something strangely amiss nagged at her; something was off in this large, expansive room. As Regina walked, delving deeper into the Cooling Water Circulation Chamber, she noticed something very, very wrong—a couple of the towering machines and control panels next to her had massive holes in them, clear evidence that this was not done by any human. They were probably done by some of those amphibious dinosaurs, or something worse.

Her body let out a shudder, her mind quickly turning to another possible enemy, one she'd rather not see up, close, and personal—one of those long-necked Plesiosaurus. She recalled seeing them on the fun joyride to the Third Energy facility, but she only saw their necks—they must have huge bodies to be able to carry them like that. She didn't want to face one, but if it came down to it...she had 3 rocket propelled grenades left—she could only hope those would do it. At the end of the walkway, she noticed a ledge. To her left, the path continued to a door. She boosted onto the ledge, then walked up the short stairwell to the second level. There was no railing here, so if she fell, she'd have to start back at the bottom level again. She was above the large machines now, and some distance ahead, she could make out a school of tiny minnows, moving like a blob across the huge room. To get a measure of how big this room was, think a football field, with machines, control panels, and pipes. The room hummed with activity. Some machines had large holes in them, as mentioned.

_Hope I didn't walk into a nest of some kind..._

The path took a right, then a quick left. Being careful not to fall, she took her time, making slow, deliberate steps to the wider platform at the end. She could make out a pillar holding up another raised, smaller platform leading to a door, probably back to the previous room where the dead person was seen. There was evidence of a ladder here, but it was ripped clean off, the metal bent and twisted beyond recognition. Unfortunately, the platform was higher than she could boost, and would need to bring it down somewhat. She'd need to knock out the pillar and bring down the platform, giving her the needed height to boost. Regina took another of the rockets and placed it into the Aquagrenade. Taking aim at the pillar, she prayed that the thing would be structurally weak and collapse. Pulling the trigger, the grenade flew out of the gun, and in a couple seconds, slammed into the pillar, exploding at impact. The platform began to fall, the sounds of grinding stone following the explosion echoing through the water. The platform hit the ground with a loud thud, causing the ground where Regina stood to vibrate slightly.

_Well, that worked...but I only have two grenades left now._

Holstering the weapon, she boosted herself up onto the newly lowered platform, then again onto the next; pressing the button and finding herself back into the room where she saw the diver. She'd have to cross a narrow footbridge, then descend down onto the ledge where the diver lay. On the wall, a small lever was down in an "off" position, the light red. Curious, she lifted the lever up, and the light changed to green. Mechanical whirring filled the air, and she realized she'd turned on power to the tiny elevator lift, giving her a way back if she flubbed. Again, taking careful, small steps, she made her way across the thin bridge, and at the end, she leapt off and descended until she landed just a couple feet away from it. Kneeling, she turned the body over, to see if she could get an identity. A face suddenly appeared in the blue murkiness of the helmet, its mouth opened in a wide "O," the eyes rolled back in his head. Blood had splattered on the glass, and it was clear that the skin, even through the opaqueness of the helmet glass, was blue—he had been asphyxiated, dead from lack of oxygen to the brain. She jumped back, startled instantly, gasping.

_Whoa...calm down, Regina...it's a dead guy. You've seen much worse—you've seen mutilated, decapitated, and maimed bodies. _

She turned him over again after composing herself, and saw the cause—the oxygen tube was punctured, ripped open—he had drowned. Next to him, lying on the ground, he had an Aquagrenade still in his clenched hand. Attached to him were two grenades, a welcome addition and much needed replenishment for Regina. She quickly undid the clasps on his suit, and freed the grenades, attaching them to her own uniform.

_Sorry, pal...but I need these more than you do. _

She also freed the weapon from his hand and found it heavy—it was loaded. Apparently, his tube was punctured, as he was reloading or ready to fire. She stood up once more, and scanned the small ledge for anything else. Several feet away from the dead diver, a small, spherical object, lie on the ground. She knew instantly what it was—the plug for the control panel in the Water Circulation System Control Room. Grabbing it, she looked at it for a second. It was a white, spherical object, with a couple of wires spanning the length. At the end, three large prongs matched the slots in the outlet. She sighed, that objective completed, and walked off the platform, descending about twenty, thirty feet to the floor. This put her right at the doors back into the transport passageway. The doors slid open, and she quickly jumped over the crates, one Aquagrenade holstered, loaded, and one in her hand along with the plug.

A minute later, she was back inside the Circulation System room, and walked back to the control panel, slamming the plug firmly into its socket. The panel let out a beep, and suddenly the red area on the map began to blink. Below, the text changed.

Detecting Plug Device............OK.

Placing Corresponding Polarities............OK.

Powering Plug.........OK.

Reactivating power to Inside Cooling Aqueduct Area............

Opening Aqueduct doors............OK.

Power restored.

The light over the Aqueduct area changed from a blinking red to a solid green. Regina was on her way before the light ever changed.

-----------------------------------

The area seemed much darker than the rest of the facility—maybe some of the lights had burned out or something. Almost as soon as she entered the area, there was a small elevator lift going up. She walked inside, pressed the button, and found herself in a straight section of hallway, still dimly lit. Moving as fast as she possibly could, wearing those seemingly leaden boots, she made it to the end of the section, where her eyes caught another object, familiar. Another diver lay dead on the metal floor, his body lifeless and cold. There were massive tears in his suit, and the glass itself was cracked and broken in a couple of places. A couple of feet next to him, a small rectangular object sat undisturbed. She picked it up, and in the dim light of the hall, she could at least make out that it was another one of those keycards. She flipped it around to see where this one went to, but the letters couldn't be read in the light. On his person were an Aquagrenade and one projectile rocket. She put the keycard in a pocket on the suit and picked up the weapon, finding it empty. Tossing it aside, she reached down and undid the clasp holding the single rocket, whereupon she used it to load the one Aquagrenade that was empty on her. With that done, she turned to her left, whereupon she found another small lift going down. At the bottom, she was greeted with a set of double doors, with an accompanying button to open it. She pressed it, and the doors slid open slowly, and the sight before her suddenly became awesome.

She happened upon a huge room, the ceiling extremely high. In clear view, she could see it, the centerpiece of this whole facility, possibly this whole area, jungle included. A massive network of pipes branched off the octagonal structure, fences and turbines and fans in various locations, with lights. She had seen this structure before one year ago, and she was faced with it all over again.

_The Third Energy reactor..._

Her eyes scanned the area, taking the massive structure in, as flashbacks of Ibis Island came flooding back—the reactor malfunctioning, Dr. Kirk, the island itself getting blasted into another time, all those dinosaurs, Tom, Cooper dying, just barely surviving the whole ordeal—all centered on this gigantic piece of machinery, the lifeblood of this area. As she ventured forth, the water was quite clear in this part of the facility, brightly lit by lights set in the walls, in the floor, and on the reactor itself. Looking through the glass of the helmet, she could make out, just barely, the outline of an upper-level passageway, leading to somewhere, maybe a possible exit. Continuing her trek in the reactor area, she began to make her way around it, hoping to find something to take her up to that ledge—

--when a loud crash ripped through the water, cutting the ambient silence right out. Instinctively, she aimed the weapon toward the direction of the crash. It sounded very close, and the sound of it made it seem like something very large had created it. Whatever it was, it was still moving, for the water seemed to rumble continuously. She pointed the gun into the direction of the crash, straight ahead—and suddenly the long, slender neck of a Plesiosaurus appeared in open water, its head moving, scanning the area for prey. The neck was attached to a huge body, long, wide, and sleek, with fins the size of a car attached to the white underside. The dinosaur moved in a wide ark, moving effortlessly through the water, its body designed for it. The creature began to head in Regina's direction, still several hundred feet away from her, but it would notice her presence quickly.

_What did I say? What did I say?_

She didn't even pause to think about the situation—she pulled the trigger on instinct, and the rocket flew with quick speed out of the gun, the rear propeller giving it the energy to move. A few seconds later, a quick burst of light, followed by the sounds of an explosion, resulting in an angry roar from the Plesiosaur. Now it noticed, and its long, sleek neck swung wide, crashing into the reactor, creating a massive dent and sending a loud noise of crunching metal through the cold water. A blaring alarm suddenly sounded, ringing through the entire area as red light began flashing through the water, a result of the amphibious creature hitting a generator, probably. A female voice came over a public address system, and Regina could hear it clearly.

"Warning, the Third Energy Reactor has been damaged. Repeat: the Third Energy Reactor has been damaged. Switching to emergency power. Exits will be locked to restrict extensive damage."

_Shit, I'm trapped. I've got five grenades left...best to make the most of them._

Behind her, a blue, translucent shield barricaded the door she came through. The angered dinosaur had its long neck pointed directly at her, the creature moving very quickly. She could see the blood trailing out of the large wound the rocket created. Quickly, she grabbed the loaded, holstered weapon and took aim, and fired. She released some oxygen, enabling her to boost backwards as the rocket sailed through the water, reaching its mark in a couple of seconds, landing an impact in the long neck. The sound of the explosion ripped through the water, and the creature let out a roar of pain, and swam upwards, swimming over Regina. Her quick deflection had worked for now, but she had four grenades left, and he would be coming back again. Her heart pounding, she holstered one weapon, grabbed another of the grenades and loaded one into the one in her hands, then switched weapons and loaded that one as well.

The creature began to turn around as Regina began to move forward, the focus still to find a way to reach the upper ledge. Up ahead, a small platform, leading up to another, easily accessible via boost. Another loud crash filled the area as the massive body hit the wall. She boosted up onto the platform, then jumped onto the next one. It led to a footbridge, which then led up to a passageway going around the perimeter of the reactor itself. The Plesiosaur began to move toward Regina again, still several hundred feet away.

Aim for the head...the head... 

She grabbed the holstered weapon, now wielding both Aquagrenades. A loud, deep roar filled the reactor area, and she took aim at it, and fired both grenades, one right after the other. Like a torpedo, they jetted through the water, slicing through it effortlessly. Two explosions occurred, the sounds vibrating, as they careened into the monstrous creature. The first slammed into the creature's body, causing a visible hole to profusely bleed. The second found its target—straight into the head of the creature, obliterating it, sending pieces of skin in all directions, a massive wave of blood staining the water red. However, momentum still carried the creature forward, even though it was falling out of the air, and she boosted to try to get out of the way—

--but she wasn't quick enough, as she was sidelined by the headless creature, the sheer force of it sending her sailing up and away, her weapons immediately leaving her hands, lost. She felt as if the wind was knocked out of her, and she gasped for air, thinking the oxygen tube ruptured. The soldier must have been sent fifty or so feet through the water, and suddenly she felt herself crashing into a wall, her back slamming into metal, her body slamming into it like a rag doll. She let out a cry of pain, and as she was falling to the floor, her vision blurred, getting fuzzier and fuzzier, until a blackness washed over her, a black veil in this blue and red sea, as she felt herself slipping into unconsciousness.

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End of Chapter Five. As always, feedback welcome! Chapter 6 should be up shortly.


	7. It'll be a Hot Time in the Old Town Toni...

Note: Thanks for the reviews I've been getting on this story! I appreciate your feedback. I noticed that in the reviews, both have asked me to have Dylan and Regina hook up. (laughs) As much as that would be so typical of a situation like they are in, I'm not going to hook them up. This is a novelization, not a lemon. While there is no doubt in my mind that Dylan probably has feelings for her, the chances of myself writing a major twist to the story and having the two indeed hook up are very slim. That isn't to say you might see a Dylan/Regina lemon coming from me at some point in the future. Besides, I have plans for the ending...heehee. Anyway, with that said, let's head back to the story. Once again, thanks!

**Chapter Six: It'll be a Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight**

_**Initial Location: Edward City, gate**_

Other than the gentle lapping of the water, Dylan Morton stared at a scene that was becoming quickly all too familiar—abandonment, silence, an area devoid of life. The dock of the city looked like everywhere else—concrete walls crumbling, metal beams rusting, and ivy appearing in patches. A staircase off to his left led up to a door, probably an elevator shaft, judging from the look of the structure. Lined up in a row, jet bikes sat neatly parked. However, age and neglect had taken their toll on them, and they fell into disuse. Just a few feet ahead stood a single door, next to it a card reader. Aside, pieces of a jet bike lie all over the floor, some tools scattered.

_Again...no one. _

He looked at his wrist, at his watch.

_Almost two hours...what could she be doing down there? I hope she gets in radio contact soon..._

Dylan reached for the door handle and tried to turn it, but it wouldn't turn. He reached into his pockets, and remembered suddenly that he didn't have any of them—the Research Facility keycard he chucked, and Regina had the Third Energy facility keycard.

_Hmm..._

He turned around, decided to head up the stairs to the elevator shaft. He pressed a button, and once again, nothing. He grew annoyed, and his faced showed it. He let out a growl and kicked the door, yelling. "Does _anything_ work here?!" There was no one to hear him. His head hot, he walked back down the stairs, and proceeded to pace back and forth on the landing, the only thing he could do. All he could do was wait and hope Regina came back on the radio.

---------------------------------------

"The water current is presently normal. Deactivating defense mode."

She opened her eyes, her vision blurry, but starting to come back into focus. A dull pain throbbed in the back of her head, another down by her lower back.

_Oh, that's gonna leave a mark..._

She rose very slowly to her feet, all her muscles seemingly sore, her head feeling light and dizzy.

_Why does my vision look weird? What's going on here? How long was I out?_

Quickly, her mind replayed the recent events.

_Walked into here, saw big-ass creature, blew him up, got rammed and sent here...passed out._

She noticed something amiss immediately—the glass on the helmet was cracked slightly, and condensation was forming on the inside of the helmet. The oxygen tube, luckily, remained intact, but the small machine was malfunctioning. It was providing oxygen in short bursts, giving her reduced oxygen, causing all her muscles and her head to be sore—lack of oxygen. Immediately, she was alert, becoming very aware of this dangerous situation. There was a crack in the glass, creating a pressure point—if the water pressure was strong enough, the glass would break, and she would drown. She quickly scanned her surroundings. She was on a passageway that spanned the perimeter of the Third Energy Reactor, and she could see the upper level, and noted she wasn't far from it. A hundred feet or so ahead, she could make out a dark stain in the water. She began to move forward, her legs seeming like lead. Her breathing had become real heavy, and slightly labored as her lungs fought for the needed oxygen. She was unarmed now, the weapons gone when the Plesiosaurus rammed into her. Ahead, a section of the path was missing, lying smashed on the floor. As she peered over, she saw the headless carcass of the creature she had blown away, the blood, deep red, rising from the massive gouges in its skin, swirling and diffusing with the blue water. She'd have to jump the distance, and she hoped the boost mechanism still worked.

She hit the button on the suit, and a jet of air flew out the back, propelling her into the air, then slowly descended, her boots hitting the ground with a thud.

_Good...that still works...my head..._

She walked to the edge and leaped into the water, then slammed the button, releasing a short, brief column of air that propelled her forward, forward through the upward rising of dinosaur blood, and she easily made it onto the other side. Now, she had a clear path to the upper level, and when she arrived at the threshold, she jumped up, boosted to the upper level, and walked straight to the door at the end, each step painful, making the distance to the door seemingly long and endless. When she arrived, she pushed the button, and plodded into the thin elevator shaft. Her finger landed on the up button, and gears came to life, and she felt the elevator move up, and her vision noticed the waterline, the surface, as the water receded. Her head felt increasingly dizzy, the vision starting to blur again, that dull, constant pain throbbing, nagging her. She had to have been wounded. With her remaining energy, she lifted the helmet off her, and she felt cool air wash over her face, and she gasped, sucking in mouthfuls of the life-giving air, a much, much needed relief. The elevator shaft stopped moving, and the door opened, and another wave of cool air washed over her as she stumbled out, her arms reaching out and catching the railing for balance.

"Regina!"

_Dylan? Dylan, is that you?_

He ran up the stairs, obviously noticing something wrong with her. He took Regina and carried her down the stairs, then set her down gently on the ground. Something had happened to her—her face was unusually pale, her eyes bloodshot. Her hair was matted down, and her forehead was lined with sweat. He kneeled down, his face hovering over the ailing soldier.

"Regina? Regina, it's Dylan!"

"Dylan?" she asked, her voice groggy. "Oh...hi, Dylan."   
"What happened to you?" he asked, his voice concerned, his face worried.

"I had a fight with one of those long-necked things...rammed me into a wall or something..." Regina let out a cough as the words came out slow and labored.

"Relax, relax," he whispered softly. "Take your time."

"I feel a sharp pain in my back or my side...I think I'm cut and bleeding."

He nodded. "I'll get on that right away—I'm grabbing the first aid kit from the craft. Don't move at all." He got up quickly, and ran as fast as he could.

She nodded weakly, the motion itself seeming to cause great pain. A minute or a half hour later, she didn't know, she could make out the worried face of Dylan again, his blond hair rustled, his blue eyes in concentration.

"Dylan, my head..." she croaked.

He had in his hand an ice pack. "Here. Rest your head on this. Can you roll to a side that doesn't hurt? I can't take this diving suit off if you're on it."

Summoning up any energy she had, she rolled over to a less-hurting side, and held her position as Dylan undid the suit from the back. As he took off the suit, he saw the problem—a large, dark red spot had formed on her back, the gray uniform saturated in that area.

"You're right—probably blood loss. I'm going to lift up the back of your shirt, ok?"

"Uh huh..."

He lifted up her gray S.O.R.T uniform shirt, and saw the problem—a large cut, wide as the palm of Dylan's hand, glistened in the sunlight, the red blood bright and flowing steadily, a sharp contrast to the smooth, fair skin on the rest of her back. He snapped open the first aid kit, and took out a small bottle of isopropyl alcohol.

"Regina? It's a nasty cut...looked like you did slam into something. I'm gonna clean the wound by putting some rubbing alcohol on it. It's going to sting, ok?" He opened the bottle, the strong, pungent smell of the liquid invading his nostrils.

"Ok," she said quietly. He took the bottle and poured some of the liquid on the wound.

"_OWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW! DYLAN, YOU ASS!_" Regina screamed in pain, her whole body going rigid as the stinging shot through her body like electricity.

He placed one hand on her side, pressing down firmly. "Relax, Regina! I'm only helping you!"

"It _hurts!_" she wailed.

"I know, but I'm done with the alcohol now. Calm down." He took out some gauze to wipe the area clean. He pressed firmly on the wound, sopping up some alcohol and blood, cleaning up the wound enough so that it wasn't a pile of blood. He took out a large-sized bandage, and applied it over the wound, covering it. He took out a length of gauze, cut it, and began to fit it around her waist.

"Lift your body up slightly." She lifted enough for him to snake the gauze under her, and around her stomach. He tied the two ends together snugly, to further hold the bandage in place. The procedure finished, he asked her to see if she could stand. It took some energy, but she rose to her feet, her body feeling noticeably better, but not 100.

"Regina? I'll take you back to the ship—I want you to rest there for a little while." She nodded, and Dylan took her wrist and walked slowly with her back to the hovercraft. When they entered the cockpit, she sat down, her face wincing in pain.

"I want you to rest here for a bit." He opened the kit again and took out a couple of painkillers. "Open your hand. Take these—these will relieve the pain." She nodded, and ingested the white pills.

"Lay down here, the ice pack resting on your head."   
As she lay down, she leaned her head in Dylan's direction, and a small smile came over her face.

"Thanks for everything, Dylan."

"No problem—always glad to help someone in need," he said, smiling back. "That smile is the first step to your recovery. I still need to explore that city—"

"Before you do," she began, cutting him off, "check the pockets of that diving suit—there's a keycard. Maybe you can use it in this city."

He shook his head. "No, no, no. We're in this together—I want to make sure you stay alive. Besides, there's something in the computers I want to check out. I'll be in the cabin." As he turned toward the door, he looked at her once more. "I'll be back to check up on you."

"Thanks," she said, her voice already beginning to return to normal.

------------------------------------

She had sat up on the bench, feeling quite better. Granted, the pain in her back had subsided immensely, but still nagged at her. However, it was bearable, and she could continue the rest of the mission. The ship cabin door opened, and out came Dylan, a smile on his face.

"Welcome back," he greeted.

"Thanks. Those meds you gave me really helped," she commented.

"I'm glad. You ok?"

"Yeah. I can continue."

"Excellent. I went back out onto the landing, and rifled through your diving suit, and found that keycard you talked about."

He went through his pocket and pulled out a blue-green keycard, the purple-white lettering of the Third Energy logo emblazoned onto it, and handed it to Regina, who flipped it over, and sure enough, the writing on it: "Edward City."

"Good," she said, rising quickly to her feet. "Let's go." Dylan nodded and took the key, and they headed out the door.

At the landing, the two of them walked side by side, toward the only door leading into the city. Dylan looked at Regina, then spoke.

"Oh, yeah," he began. "I forgot to ask: how's the water down there?"

Regina scoffed. "Um...I don't recommend the diving in this resort. Now give me that key, and I'll unlock the door."

A series of beeps alerted the two to their intercoms—someone was trying to get a hold of them. Dylan pressed a button on his wrist, and a voice came over the speaker, a voice sounding familiar to Regina.

_Sounds like that cowboy fella..._

"Hey! This is David! Is anyone there? Answer me!"

_Oh, yeah...David Fork...the cowboy._

A huge grin spread across Dylan's face as he took the call. "David! I _knew_ you were alive!"

"Ho, ho!" came the reply from David. "Hey, Dylan! Good to hear from you! Thank god you're all right—I was beginning to think I was the last one here! Anyone else with you?"

"Yeah, Regina's here. We're just about to head into Edward City," Dylan replied. "What's your situation?"

"Good timing, Dylan," he replied casually, some static coming in over him. "I found survivors here!"

"Really? We were starting to consider giving up. Where?"

More static began to filter in.

"The place is...Edward City..."

"David, you're breaking up," he said.

"Hurry...they're—" David said, before white noise drowned out all else.

"David! David!" Dylan yelled, tapping his wrist intercom.

Regina swiped the Edward City keycard, and the reader let out a confirming beep, the door sliding open as well.

"Edward City shouldn't be too far," she said. "Let's move."

They had come onto a road, a haul road of sorts. Again, ruin greeted the two, as a pile of machinery and twisted fencing lined the right side, large gouges ripped into it like it was aluminum foil large electrical transformers smashed, poles gnarled, and some large freight crates stacked high, ivy starting to grow over them. While Dylan explored this new area, Regina noticed something else of importance—another large dinosaur, its skin a dark green, with dark splotches of color adorning its body. On the large, almost disproportional head, a few sharp ivory tusks grew, bleached white in the Cretaceous sun.

_Triceratops..._

The creature had lie dead for some time, a long time. The wind was blowing to her back, so she only caught a faint smell of decay and death that emanated from the rotting creature. It was probably the cause of the damage and debris in this area. Scanning the dinosaur's surface, she noticed many tiny needles sticking out of the thick skin.

_Poison needles, maybe? That would explain the creature's means of death..._

She rose to her feet once again, and walked along the haul road, noting that the path ahead was blocked by a military truck. A door on her left went to another area, and another truck along the wall sat, ivy starting to grow on that, as well. She found Dylan behind the truck, kneeling on the tarmac next to a dead soldier, a frown on his face.

"That looks attractive," Regina commented.

Dylan sighed. "He died quite recently—the blood is still glistening, bright red."

She kneeled next to him, noting two large puncture wounds spaced evenly apart. "Look at these wounds—they're not like anything we've seen thus far...not a raptor bite, or any other familiar marks."

"A dinosaur we haven't seen yet?" Dylan asked.

"Maybe. There are Triceratops in the area...perhaps there are other types of creatures here. There's a door a little ways back...check that area out, maybe you can find something. I'll sweep the rest of the area."

He nodded, got up, and ran back to a door to his right. As he entered, he found himself in a large area. Judging from the tall stacks of freight crates around him, this was probably a storage area of sorts. As he ventured deeper, the narrow path the crates created veered to the right, and his eyes saw an abnormal sight. Ahead, there was a massive break in the concrete wall, debris, bits of concrete and metal everywhere. A forklift was sticking out of one of the crates, mangled beyond repair.

_Something was having a fun time here..._

Bent pipes were strewn about the concrete floor, and one of the crates had its doors ripped off, revealing the contents of musty boxes, of which a couple were open. He walked over, and perused the contents. They all contained a type of weapon. Dylan had recalled seeing this as a prototype shortly before they came here. It was a small weapon, gray and black, the bottom of the barrel curved downward. Beneath the gun was a clear material, and through it, the gun contained many, many thin disks.

_What did they call this...a Chainmine...? Yes...the Chainmine._

He recalled how this particular new weapon, designed by T.R.A.T., worked; with each pull of the trigger, five disks shot out, landing in a straight line. The thin opening at the end of the barrel allowed for a straight deployment of mines, each landing a foot apart. They were all timed so that the first one closest to the person would detonate just a second or two after landing, and the rest would follow in very quick succession. The weapon was designed as a weapon to not only cause some damage, but flip enemies over, thus exposing their weak, soft underbellies for a few seconds before they got up. He took two—one for each of them. With nothing else in this area, he turned around and headed back the way he came. When he got back out onto the haul road, he headed left, and noticed that she was no longer beside the dead soldier.

"Over here!" she called, and he saw her at the end of a section of dirt path, standing beside a door choked with ivy.

"Let me guess," he said, "you need my blade."

"Well, I'm not standing here to enjoy the foliage," Regina replied sarcastically.

"Well, ho ho and ha ha." He held out one Chainmine in his hands. "Take it."

She took the weapon out of his hands and examined it, a look of curiosity spreading across her face. "What's this spacey-looking thing?"

He drew his machete and began to hack at the thick, green ivy. "It's called a Chainmine. It was developed by the guys at T.R.A.T. Last I checked, it was a prototype—looks like they were actually planning to use the thing after all. The weapon is equipped with many, many thin disks, probably fifty or sixty. Each time you reload and pull that trigger, five discs come out, landing in a straight line, evenly spaced apart." He sliced once more, letting another chunk of ivy hit the ground before continuing on. "A second or so after the first one closest to you hits the ground, it fires a small explosive, and then the rest follow in line right after. It's useful for flipping over small enemies, so you can shoot them in their stomachs, a weak spot."

She looked at the weapon some more before slinging the belt around her. "You sure? This thing looks like some gun out of a science fiction show or something."

He cut the last piece of ivy off the door, and sheathed the machete. "Hold on to it...it may prove useful. Now, shall we?"

"Let's," she replied, and the squeaky fence door opened. It was humid here as they found themselves back inside jungle, once again surrounded by thick, lush greenery. Large insects flew by the two as they progressed along the lakeside, and Dylan spotted something along the bank. A large motorboat, covered in moss and algae, sat atop the water's surface, definitely evidence that this had been long since abandoned. As he checked the motor boat, he noticed a large dent in the floor, probably a result of one of those long-necked creatures abundant in these waters.

"Dylan, look at this," said Regina, diverting his attention to a strange-looking mark on a nearby tree. It was spray-painted on, a yellow cowboy hat.

"It's David's mark," he noted.

"That's very cautious of him," she said, something in her voice making it sound almost snide to Dylan.

"It's how you survive," he said firmly. "Let's look for another mark."

"If we're going to do that, then let's split up," she concluded.

"That works. Be careful," he said, but she already had begun to run ahead, her slender legs making her move quickly. Truth be told, she didn't much care for David. She had met him during one of the briefing sessions back at HQ, when he tried to get to know her. He was always trying to get with women, his cowboy persona just a front. In short, he tried too hard, and Regina never found an interest with men of his type anyway. He was probably an excellent soldier, but he was lacking in the charm department. What he lacked in charisma he made up for on the battlefield. After all, it was him that saved them from becoming food for the T-Rex back at the compound, just after the initial siege by the raptors.

He went back to exploring the decrepit motor boat, looking for any clues. He was there for a few minutes before deciding that he was going to find nothing else. He followed the path, heading in the same direction she went, and found himself at a gate. He opened it, and it led into another section of jungle. He could hear the sounds of running water nearby, and as he ran along the path, he heard some rustling in the greenery near him. Suddenly, a single Oviraptor leaped from the bushes, its thin, lanky legs landing softly on the ground. It looked at Dylan for a split second before a loud _bang_ cut through the air, taking the creature's head with it. He didn't even stop to shoot at it—just aimed and fired while running, skin and body parts flying into the bushes. The Oviraptor didn't even get anything in edgewise as the lifeless corpse immediately fell to the ground, blood pouring from the neck. Sure enough, Dylan was correct in his thinking—a small river flowed beneath a wooden footbridge, a tributary of the lake. Up ahead, some distance away, he could make out another gate, but a dark shape was behind it. As he got closer, he saw that the dark, brown object was the base of a mountain, and there was a cave. Through the holes in the fence, he could see the yellow cowboy hat mark of David.

_He went through the cave..._

He opened the door, and peered inside the cavern—it was dark, the only light being the sunlight. He had the shotgun in hand, the Chainmine slung around him as he crept inside, slowly, noticing a very quick temperature change, dropping, the air much cooler here at the cave entrance. As he ventured further, the path turned to the right, and a red glow began to form along the walls, and the temperature began to climb. The path opened into a clear area, and suddenly, he felt as if he were in an oven. Just a second ago, it was cold, almost chilly. Now, he was broiling. And up ahead, he could see why. Flowing under the path up ahead was a bright orange river, a river flowing, made up of entirely magma. It moved quickly under the path, the heat coming off it. The path forked up ahead—one way led to a dead end, and to the left, it continued on, becoming narrow for a few feet as it bridged over the fast-moving flow. He could hear the sloshing sounds of the viscous fluid as it moved, and he could hear the sounds of steam escaping from cracks in the rock walls.

_Amazing...I'm inside a volcano. I can't believe David went through here. Damn, it's hot._

He followed the path left, and as he crossed the narrow land bridge, he felt as if he was walking over an oven, the heat waves riding up his legs, creating a sweaty feeling in his groin, and washing over his face. Another hiss of steam escaped through a rock, and Dylan saw a ladder leading up at the end, David's mark next to it. When he got to the next area of the cave, he could feel the temperature cooling already, the sweat on his body making his shirt moist. The calm orange light given off by the magma flow lit this area, and as Dylan followed the path as it veered right, where he was coming up to another fork. Just then, he heard a low growl, probably coming from the right where the trail split. He stopped dead in his tracks, and aimed his shotgun straight in front of him. He began to walk forward, his steps very slow and deliberate. His heart began to quicken, the adrenaline beginning to creep into his bloodstream. Another low growl could be heard, and as Dylan drew closer to the path split, he saw it. A dark brown, ugly thing, crawling on all fours came into view. This new creature had a very thick skin, just judging by the look of the dinosaur. It walked on short legs, keeping it very low to the ground. A lighter shade of brown ran down the length of this creature, probably ten, twelve feet long. . Two very long, pointed teeth ran down the side of its mouth, with probably more sharp teeth in its mouth. Each of the creature's legs were equipped with a few claws, easily capable of slicing its prey open.

_Inostrancevia..._

Suddenly, the creature picked up speed, noticing Dylan's presence, and as it closed the distance between the soldier and itself, it rose on its two hind legs, and began to fall toward Dylan, in an attempt to bowl over its prey, exposing its lighter underbelly—and a shot rang out, a hot shell slamming into the creature's stomach, sending the thing down back on all fours. The blast had made a hole in the creature's stomach, as evident by the blood trail it was starting to leave, but it seemed unfazed. It let out another roar, and it began to move toward Dylan again. Dylan turned and ran back some feet, then grabbed the Chainmine and fired at the dinosaur. Five disks quickly flew out, landing in a straight line in front of Dylan. As the creature walked over the mines, they blew up, all five in quick succession, causing the reptile to flip over, its short legs flailing. He ran up to the monstrosity and opened fire on its stomach, the barrel only a foot or two away from the writhing creature, sending slug after slug into its stomach. Innards, blood, skin, and muscle began to spray everywhere, landing on Dylan's uniform, the walls, the dark earth.

"_DIE!_" he yelled, almost sounding primal as the creature shrieked, then finally collapsed, twitching slightly as the nerves in it reacted. The entire underside looked like the surface of the Moon, five large, massive, bloodied gouges in it now. Breathing heavily, he ejected the hot, empty cartridge from the shotgun, reached into a pocket on his flak jacket, took out another and reloaded the weapon. Wiping the blood and sweat from his face, he pressed onward. The trail continued onward, until it ended at a ladder going down. As he peered over, he could feel the heat rising.

_Probably leads down to more magma..._

When he got to the bottom, he could see the other end a few hundred feet away—it was light, as if it was back out in the jungle. The path branched off a few times, all of them leading to dead ends. Again, a flow of magma moved below the trail, creating a narrow land bridge. As he got to the other end, he saw another of those creatures he just encountered—dead. The head was partially missing, a pool of blood staining the dark earth. Several tiny holes lined its stomach, thin rivulets of blood trickling out from all of them.

_Regina was here..._

As he ventured down the ladder, he spotted another one of David's marks along the wall next to a rung. He smiled, and at the bottom, the path immediately split, one to the right. Again, a dead end, and as the main trail turned slightly to the right, he could see daylight this time—a green fence at the end of the trail.

_Yes—made it._

With his heart doing a happy dance, he ran for the opening, and as he exited, cool air washed over his face again, sunlight shining through. He was glad to be out of there. Judging by the looks of it, the city wasn't too much farther away from here.

_Where did Regina head off to?_

"Up here, Dylan," came her voice. A few feet away, she stood atop a platform, waving at him. "Come on up here."

A smile came across his face. "I'm glad to see you." He climbed up a ladder, and when he got to the top, he realized he was standing atop a firing tower; a massive gun was next to them. The door was open—a small enclosure to control the gun was inside. All the lights and monitors seemed to be on, probably fully operational. He looked at her quizzically. "I saw your handiwork back in the cave—how the hell did you blow its head off with just your handgun?"

An evil grin came over her face. "I didn't." She raised her Chainmine. "It was going to try to topple me over, so I just rammed the thing in its open mouth and fired, and the mines exploded in its mouth. Quite a fun sight sometimes."

"Clever," he said. "Where are we?"

"Probably a compound of sorts. We'll need to find a way around those freight crates blocking our path. Let's keep going—the city shouldn't be too far from here." She dropped down to the ground below, when suddenly, a dull _thud_ caught both their attention. Another quickly followed, and Dylan could see the blue and white head of an Allosaurus above the stacked freight.

"Regina! It's another of those big blue dinosaurs!" Dylan cried. He ran inside the firing tower, and a second later, he ran out with a gun-like object in his hand. "Catch!" He threw the gun, and now the Allosaurus had broken out into full view, and began to move into a full run toward the two.

"It's a signal gun! Fire it, and I'll blast one at the spot where it's fired. Now, head for that firing tower straight ahead of you."

Wasting no time, Regina ran ahead, toward the next firing tower.

Another set of heavy footsteps caused the ground to vibrate. As Dylan looked in the direction of the sound, his heart quickened, and briefly, fear crept inside his mind.

_Two more?! This must be their nest...hoo, boy. _

He ran into the small enclosure and slammed the door behind him. He sat down in the chair, and looked at the proceedings through his monitors. The first one was barreling down on Regina, the other two not far behind. Suddenly, a bright ball of light shot up into the air, a signal flare from Regina.

_Hold on just a sec, Regina..._

Pressing some buttons, he adjusted the gun so that the sight aligned with the first Allosaur, and as soon as the sight went red, he pressed a large red button. A massive explosion rang out as three explosive shells flew from the gun, accompanied by some shaking. Dylan leaped, startled.

_Holy shit, that's a powerful gun!_

A couple of seconds later, the shells found their mark, two of them slamming into the creature's body and head, as a huge wave of blood and skin splayed in all directions, hitting the concrete ground. The third shell ripped into the freight crate several feet up ahead, instantly making it shatter, wood flying in all directions as the shell turned it into many splinters and toothpicks. Regina looked nearly dumbfounded as she saw the awesome display of sheer firepower the gun produced, her mouth open in total amazement. The damage it had done to the falling creature was more than substantial, and the creature fell to the ground, splashing in its own blood. Dylan's victory was short-lived, as the two trailing dinosaurs were rounding the corner, and Regina broke out running again, heading for the metal platform ahead.

_And the game is on._

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End of Chapter Six. Reviews always are welcome. Now, looking ahead to Chapter Seven, what will they end up finding in Edward City? Chapter Seven will be up in a few days, as soon as I finish it.


	8. Jurassic Park Much?

**Chapter Seven: Jurassic Park Much?**

Another shell ripped into the right side of the creature's ugly face, taking half of it with it, bone and tooth with bloodied, smoldering skin hitting the ground. She had scrambled up the ladder, making it to the firing tower. As one creature remained, moving fast, she ran inside the weapon base, and slammed the door. She turned on her intercom, and radioed Dylan.

"Nice backup! Your turn!" She said, breathing heavily.

"You better have good aim," he said, then grabbed a signal gun from the wall. Regina immediately turned the gun around, lining it up with the creature encroaching the tower. She could see Dylan exit his tower in her sight, and out from the corner of the viewing window, she could see the head of another Allosaurus coming from around the corner.

_You just keep coming, don't you?_

The one closest to her leapt onto the platform beside the tower, and she moved the gun into position, and slammed the fire button. The creature let out a screaming roar. Three shells flew out from the end of the long barrel, all three finding their mark into the creature's ugly head, slamming violently and explosively from point-blank range, totally obliterating the creature's head, sending a cascade of blood spraying in all directions—not even any skin or bone flew—it was obliterated by the sheer force of the explosive shells. She quickly swerved the gun in the direction of the tailing creature. It burst out from the corner, its dark blue and spotted brown reptilian skin in full view. Dylan ran down the straightaway, and Regina could see him fire a signal flare in the air, a bright yellow ball sailing into the air.

_You got it, Dylan..._

She took careful aim at the creature, probably a hundred feet or so behind the running T.R.A.T. soldier, gaining quickly. When the sight flashed red, indicating a target lock, she pressed the fire button, and three more shells flew out of the gun, dancing through the air, weaving, smoke trailing behind them, as two slammed into the creature's body, ripping massive gouges as blood showered the ground, splattering over its body. The third sailed behind, hitting the ground. The force and explosiveness of the shells was enough to send the creature down, not killing it, but leaving it fatally wounded. It would probably end up dying of blood loss. Dylan had made it to the platform, and another dull thud came from their left. Another Allosaurus came from the left, but blocked by a couple of crates. There was no way around them—she'd have to blow the crates away for Dylan to pass through. He opened the door of the firing tower, looked at Regina.

"Thanks. I'm gonna head for the next firing tower. Keep covering me," Dylan said.

"Got it."

He leaped off the platform, and she swung the gun around to the left, pointing it at the crates blocking the way. It let out a roar as she fired, and in seconds, all three shells slammed into the crates, sending wood flying in all directions. He ran ahead, and the monstrosity lunged at him, its massive jaws just missing him by a couple feet. He fired another signal bullet into the air, and a few seconds later, Regina got the green light, indicating that the weapon was ready. Her hand slammed down on the fire button, and another set of explosive firepower flew through the air, gliding, slamming with much speed into its body, immediately knocking it down. One shell slammed into one of its muscular legs, tearing a large hole in the muscle and sinew. It fell to the ground, screaming, a primal roar escaping from the throat. While the other two sailed over, just missing the creature, it was not getting up—it was too much in pain. In her sights, she saw Dylan climb up to a platform, then broke for the next firing station. She saw him climbing another ladder up, then opening the metal door and disappearing inside, closing the door behind him. She heard the intercom beep, and his voice came through.

"That was close, Regina! Your turn now!"

She quickly got up, and ran out the door. She leaped off the platform, onto the stone ground, where she could see splotches of bright red blood dotting the ground. As she ran by the wounded Allosaurus, the creature lunged, its jaws clamping shut but missing by a good margin. She stopped, turned around, and looked the creature dead in its watery, reptilian eye. Her gaze remaining, she raised the signal gun into the air, and fired a flare.

_Sorry. You tried to attack me. Now you'll die._

As she ran toward the third and last firing station, she could hear the loud _bang _of shell fire, and the whistling sounds of the shells as they shot through the air. Without even a glance back, she could hear the loud explosions as the shells careened into the ailing dinosaur, all of them hitting their mark. She didn't even have to look back—it was dead, reduced to a bloody pile of bone, muscle and sinew now. As she climbed the ladder to the tower, she saw Dylan stepping out, the danger over...for now, anyways.

"Good job," Dylan said, a look of determination on his face.

"Not so bad yourself there," Regina commented. "I still am holding to my theory that you spend way too much time playing games like these."

Dylan laughed at her joke. "Duck Hunt...classic."

"Let's get moving." She looked at the signal flare. "Guess I won't be needing this anymore." She discarded the gun, and the two of them continued on, finding themselves climbing up another ladder. When they got to the top, both of them paused, sensed something foul in the air, something not right. Regina could see a clearing ahead, but was blocked by some metal. She'd have to climb down to get a better view. Leaping off the platform, the smell grew stronger, but it wasn't so much the smell of death—it was the smell of gunfire, the phosphoric smoke.

"Oh, my," Dylan said, looking at the new scene. They had come upon a wide clearing, the walls around them made of metal, sandbags piled high, and concrete, all used for purposes of fortification. This was the outer perimeter of the Command Station, and along the ground, scattered everywhere, bodies. Bodies of soldiers and raptors alike littered the ground, blood and spent shotgun shells, handgun bullets remained, evidence that a siege took place here not too long ago; quite recently, in fact, if the smell of gunfire still lingered in the air. The two progressed forward, walking through the horrible scene slowly, and images of the siege at the compound came back. Raptors lay dead with shotgun holes blown into them, soldiers with missing limbs, bloodied bodies ripped in half as torsos and legs lay helter-skelter, and blood. Blood was everywhere.

_This is awful..._

"We're late," Dylan said solemnly.

Regina's face looked grim. "What could have happened here that led to this?"

He sighed, at a loss for words. "There's nothing more we can do here. Let's keep going."

A somber silence passed between the two, all the way to the entrance of the compound, the only things here were a single jeep equipped with a machine gun in the rear. From the entrance, a road went off into the distance, into some jungle. Dylan spotted an unfamiliar sight.

_Another dinosaur, maybe?_

He kneeled next to the bloody, dead creature. It was a very small creature, probably the size of a full-grown Golden Retriever, but it lay dead, lying in its own pool of drying blood. Three tiny tusks protruded from the head, giving away its identity.

"It's a baby Triceratops," he said softly. "What happened here?"

"I—" Regina began, when she heard the sound of a low _thud. _"Oh, not again," she said, a note of annoyance in her voice.

Dylan got up. "No, not again."

Another thud, this time followed by a low growl.

Another footstep, then another. Whatever was producing those sounds had to be a large creature.

Regina's heart began to quicken, beating loudly against her chest. "T-Rex?"

"No..." Dylan answered. "The steps are too close together for it to be him again."

"Do you think we should get into that truck, then, and maybe _not _stick around?"

Suddenly, whatever it was broke out into a full run, the creature turning a corner, and a Triceratops, full-sized, burst into clear view of the awed soldiers, its head low, as if intending to ram head-on.

"Holy fuck!" Regina screamed. "Let's get into the fuckin' jeep, Dylan! Don't stand there! It'll ram straight into us!" The two quickly ran into the jeep, and Dylan mounted the rear, prepping the heavy anti-tank rifle. The creature galloped at amazing speed, letting out a loud roar which sliced through the air. Regina climbed into the driver's seat, and luckily, the keys remained in the ignition. Turning the keys, the jeep came to life, and in a heartbeat, she threw the vehicle into drive and slammed down hard on the gas, turning hard to the left, toward the exit. The tires squealed loudly, smoke coming from the burning rubber, and Dylan almost flew off the car, gripping the base of the gun for dear life.

"_Jesus H. Christ, Regina!!!_" Dylan screamed over the roar of the engine.

"Shut the _fuck_ up, Dylan!" She ordered.

Quickly, the military vehicle accelerated, and flew past the jungle green hulk that was the Triceratops.

"Just _shoot the thing!_"

The huge creature turned around in a tight arc, and wasted no time giving chase after the fleeing vehicle. As Dylan readied the machine gun, the creature appeared to go into an all-out sprint, actually _gaining _on the jeep as it sailed down the dirt road. Jungle, moving by in a blur of greens and browns, lined the road.

"Can't this thing move any faster?!" Dylan screamed over the roaring of the engine, the speed of the wind.

"I'm going as fast as I possibly can!"

The massive creature continued its unusual sprint, continuing to gain, continuing to close the distance between the two. It now remained a good few hundred feet away, but closing fast. If he didn't open fire, it was going to hit them.

"Shoot, you fool!" Regina screamed, and his fingers pulled the trigger and held it there, and short, bright rays of firepower shot from the gun, each bullet firing a half second or so apart. He tried to aim for the creature's head, but the bumpiness and unevenness of the dirt road made it hard to get a straight, clear shot at the head.

"Try to make the jeep straighter so I can shoot the thing!" Dylan ordered.

"I'll try!"

He turned around, kept his gaze on the advancing dinosaur, and resumed fire. Each thundering blast was quickly replaced by the loud hum of the engine, the whistling of the wind. He held his finger on the trigger, round after round flying through the air. One of the bright lights hit the creature in the head, the huge body part tossing back from the impact of the round, but in a split second, resumed its unrelenting chase, gaining again. Another round slammed into the creature's head, taking one of its 3 tusks, blowing it away, and it faded into obscurity as the sprinting behemoth continued to gain ground. Another round slammed into the creature's face, hitting it dead on. It roared loudly, and for a couple seconds, slowed down, and Dylan watched as it shrunk, starting to fade into the background, watching the dust fly. In seconds, the creature was back, quickly back up to speed.

A loud bump shook the two of them as she drove over a pothole in the dirt road, knocking Dylan up into the air. He quickly used his reflexes, and hugged the gun, preventing him from flying off the jeep, onto the road, where death would be imminent, certain. He couldn't let the Triceratops catch up—if it did catch up, one mighty knock with its head, or even ramming into it, would send the two hurtling to their death. At the speed they were going, they would end up becoming bloody smears on the ground, dead instantly. His body slammed back to the metal surface, and he glared at Regina angrily, but she paid him no mind, and he went back to manning the rifle. In just the few seconds that had passed, it was back to where it was, just a couple hundred feet away from them, and closing fast. He fired again, the orange rounds flying out of the barrel. His aim kept wavering with each motion of the jeep, despite her attempts to keep it steady. However, when they did hit, it only deterred the creature only instantly.

She noticed a clearing some distance ahead.

Another roar filled the air, its mouth agape, and a round flew into the creature's mouth. Even from the distance away, he could see a shower of blood coming from the Triceratops.

_Direct hit!_

As a result, he slowed down, but not stopped, allowing Dylan to fire four more rounds into the creature's thick skin, into the dinosaur's huge head. Finally, after what seemed like endless time, the creature let out a final roar, and as it was quickly becoming a dot on the horizon, he saw the mighty Triceratops fall, finally stopped in its tracks.

"Yes!" Dylan cried triumphantly.

_Men and their guns...I think George Carlin had it right...it's all related to the size of one's penis._

"That was too close for comfort, Dylan," she replied firmly.

He chuckled, "yeah, well, that was some cool driving." She turned her head to take a brief look at Dylan, a big, goofy smile across his face. He looked up, and suddenly his face turned quite shocked. "Regina, watch out!"

She looked back at the road, and saw it—the road was coming to an end, a dead end, and Regina couldn't stop the car in time, the distance was too short, and suddenly, the two found themselves in mid-air, time seeming to slow down, the jeep careening toward the open field, the two falling, falling, hoping that the impact wouldn't do too much damage.

Regina landed into the tall grass, hitting the ground hard as the wind got knocked out of her. Her cut on her side reacted, sending a sharp pain throughout her body. She let out a scream as the sensations flew through her, causing her to see red momentarily. Dylan landed a few feet ahead of her, heard him grunt as she landed. However, he got up, and ran to her side.

"Regina? You ok?" He asked, worry in his voice.

"Yeah...I'll be ok." She started to move, when suddenly, an explosion not far away from them shook the ground, creating a quick burst of heat and orange and yellow light sending a blast of wind in all directions. Dylan covered her with his body, and pieces of smoldering jeep landed around the two. As the two slowly stood up, they checked their surroundings, and realized that they were in a large open field, surrounded by tall, green grass. The sound of a helicopter could be heard some distance away. In the distance, they could see the buildings of Edward City in the distance, smoke trailing up into the air. Before anyone could say anything, they heard a cry, a cry all too familiar.

_Raptors._

One raptor poked its head out of the tall grass. Then another followed. Then another.

Then three more.

Five more.

Eight more.

Until they were completely surrounded by twenty, thirty, maybe forty of them, all of them having their eyes set on the two. And then they began to move, slowly closing the gap between them, tightening in the circle.

_Um...not looking very likely here...we can't outrun them...they've got us totally surrounded._

The two soldiers pressed their backs to each other, their respective weapons drawn. Both of them could feel the beating of each others' hearts as they pounded inside their chests.

"Dylan?" Regina said softly, fear seeping into her psyche. The closest ones to them began to crouch, getting ready to leap. A couple of them let out a hiss, a warning sound of what was imminent.

Death was staring at them with reptilian eyes.

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Yay for action scenes, but more to come in Chapter Eight! As always, keep those reviews coming! I want feedback! Let me know how I'm doing.


	9. Uneasy Familiarity

Note: First, this chapter contains a document from the game, which is highlighted in boldface type. Second, (and this only applies to you if you have played the game and are reading this) I took out the short, brief part where Dylan hops into a tank in the Edward City Warehouse Quarters and has a romp with the T-Rex. It's a short, brief section of game which has no real impact on the main story. I figured in the last chapter, with a romp with the Allosaurus, immediately having the Triceratops on their tails right after, followed by the ambush in the field outside Edward City…let these guys have a break! Third, thanks for the reviews! So far, all of them have been good, which is wonderful encouragement…even though I've been writing fanfic for almost 3 years, I've never taken on the task of novelizing an entire game…it's very hard. It requires much playing of the game, in which I have a notebook to take careful notes (including hand-drawing the maps of each room as to get an accurate description of direction, location, etc; taking notes describing the scenery of each location, and the cut scenes.) Luckily, I don't have to copy the script word for word, and the memo files—the script and memos were found on GameFAQs ). Now, onto Chapter Eight!

**Chapter Eight: Uneasy Familiarity**

_**Initial Location: Outside Edward City**_

The sounds of a chopper flying overhead caught the attention of the two surrounded soldiers. As Dylan could see it approaching them, flying low in the sky, he instantly recognized it at once, a military chopper, army-grade, equipped with a payload of six missiles, three under each wing.

_Maybe…?_

The innermost circle of raptors remained in that spring-loaded crouch, ready to spring, hissing their eerie hiss. As one of them let out a shrill cry, they heard a whistling sound in the air, a quick moving, displacing of the air that hung for a few seconds before cutting out—and a rocket exploded, crashing into the ground with amazing force, sending a bright show of reds and oranges, and as they quickly turned into the direction of the sound, they could see smoldering, charred dinosaurs hurtling through the air, shot in a wide arc. Seconds later, another missile rammed into the ground, the smoke trailing through the air as it hit directly into a pocket of six or seven, sending the carcasses flying through the air, one or two of them hitting the ground near them. Regina could hear the sick crunches of bones snapping, blood and smoking, blackened remains of fried dinosaur visible.

Seeing the roasted reptiles suddenly became too much for Regina's mind to take in—those wide, watery eyes, the carcasses missing limbs, the smoking, reeking, foul fetor exuding from every pore, every scale, staring her right in the face. Her body was overtaken by a wave of nausea, the taste of bile entering her mouth. She gagged, and as she was trying to will herself not to vomit, she could hear the sounds of another missile letting fly through the air. The air filled with the sounds of shrieking, panicked raptors, fleeing. As the next one slammed the ground, the blast filled the air, sending another three or four of the reptilian creatures to their abrupt demises. The helicopter flew closer, and Dylan looked inside, trying to make out the identity of the pilot. He could make out a light-colored cowboy hat, and a face with black face paint under the eyes.

"David!" Dylan cried, waving his arms frantically, trying to signal David down.

"You're toast!" David yelled, slamming the fire button once more, one more projectile flying through the air with quick speed, firing into the field below, the missile leaving a smoky trail as it weaved through the air before slamming into a pocket of fleeing dinosaurs. As that group exploded, Dylan and Regina began to run toward the descending helicopter. The danger was over now—the remaining raptors were fleeing. Once again, they were saved by the cowboy. That was two now. The two soldiers caught up to the helicopter as it landed in the tall grass.

"Boy, am I glad to see you," Dylan exclaimed. "You don't know how much."

"Come on, you two—hop in. I saw something in Edward City," David said, and as soon as Regina sat, David pulled a lever and the chopper was airborne again, quickly descending altitude as he veered right, flying higher, until Edward City came into full view, smoke trailing from it.

"There's something going on down there—I see movement," Regina noted.

"There's a pair of binoculars here somewhere, get a better look. I need to know where I can land this thing," David said. Below her feet were such a pair, and when she looked through, she was graced with a terrible sight, and her chest began to feel tight, as if someone was squeezing her. There was a battle going on as they flew—the streets all filled with soldiers, civilians, men, women, children, engaged with a huge mass of raptors. She could see soldiers flailing as raptors tore their arms off, some leaping into the air and slashing people to death.

"Oh, no," Regina said softly.

Some were shooting at them, some with success, some not. Regina scanned the area, and saw a running child, a boy, get caught inside a chasing raptor's jaws. She could see the expression of intense pain on the child's face as the raptor's jaws easily sliced through the doomed human. Dinosaurs tossed the people of the city around like they were rag dolls, then feasted on their corpses.

"Dylan—they're fighting down there—the survivors are fighting the dinosaurs," she said firmly.

"What's happening?" he said, concerned.

"They're heavily outnumbered, Dylan—the dinosaurs are too much for the people…" she started, before her voice trailed off.

His facial expression grew angry. "No, god damn it! NO, NO, NO!" His face began to get red, his fists clenching in seething rage. "David, can you get us there any quicker?"

"I'm going as fast as I can, and I can't push her any more," he cried over the roar of the chopper blades. "Where can I land?"

Regina scanned the rest of the city, and saw a large area of tarmac just at the city entrance. "By the entrance, do you see that large opening?"

"Yes, I do…I was just thinking that. Brace yourselves, guys!"  
The helicopter dipped suddenly, and Dylan felt a quick feeling of motion discomfort as the chopper began its quick descent.

_God, please, let us get there in time, let us save at least whoever is left, please._

Minutes later, the chopper touched down on the tarmac just outside the city entrance, and when David turned the engines off, the three made a hasty exit, their weapons drawn, looking to get into the fray that Regina spotted from the air. The smell of gunfire, smoke, the acrid odor of sweat and death washed over the city entrance. As the two took careful steps forward, all three of them seemed to realize at once—

--it was quiet. Not a sound could be heard; no cries of raptors, no sounds of gunfire, no sounds of people. The situation didn't look good at all, and as they turned a corner, their thoughts were confirmed. Laid out as far as one could see, bodies and carcasses, mutilated and bloodied lined the city streets. The ground was littered in debris and remnants of spent ammo. Guns lie in scattered pieces along the ground, enveloped in blood. The three could see the horrified, pained expressions on their faces as their final moment ended in a cold, bitter, painful death. Innocents with missing limbs were among the raptors with shotgun blasts in their bodies, the blood flowing from all the wounds, flowing everywhere, flowing out into the streets, into the drainage systems, flowing, running, everywhere. Crimson was the color. Fresh, glistening, new. The siege had ended in the destruction of all living things here. The cold reality of it all was starting to sink in—the survivors were no more, victims of their own pride, victims of a government, victims of unfortunate circumstance. This was their entrance into the once prosperous Edward City, named after the man who created the Third Energy, Dr. Edward Kirk.

David Fork broke the silence. "These people were the only ones left. There aren't any survivors now."

Dylan's voice grew solemn. "So we failed. We _fucking _failed." He kicked a rock out of anger, flying up out of sight, landing on a newly-made corpse of a soldier.

"Look," Regina began. "We still have the objective of retrieving the data on the Third Energy research."

David shot Regina a nasty look. "Dude, even if we _get _the data, how do we get back to our time? Didn't you say that the activator for the gate's been destroyed? You did, right?"

Regina shot back a stern look at the annoyed cowboy. "_That's_ why we need that data." David threw up his hands in the air in disgust. "If we study it, we might be able to build another gate and go back."

David's voice grew louder, and more heated. "So you're _fuckin' telling me—_"

"Whoa, whoa, hold it!" Dylan shouted, raising his hands in the air, motioning for silence. "Since there's nothing else we _can _do, we should all split up and look for the data."

David sighed, turned and began to walk away without saying another word, heading further into the city.

"David?" Regina called. "David!"

No response. David disappeared through a door some distance away.

"Dylan, there looks like a building of some sort straight ahead. See it?" He nodded.

"I'm gonna go through this door behind us, check that out. Any problems, signal me."

"Ok. See ya," he concluded, a note of skepticism in his voice. A few seconds later, she went through, and he was alone. With nothing else to do, he walked through the street of dead bodies, spent weapons, maimed carcasses, and blood, until he got to the building. A sign outside, hanging by one nail and riddled with bullet holes, said, "Drug and Supply Store." As he entered, his boots stepped over glass, and the familiar smell of crossfire and decay lingered here too. On the floor to his left, there was a dead raptor on the floor, a large hole in his side, probably administered by a shotgun wound. Dark, dried blood had stained the tiled floor, and he concluded that this was some time ago. The shop was lit by one florescent light, flickering on and off. In the center, bins filled with merchandise had long since been deteriorated and destroyed. All along the walls, storage and display cases had their glass panes broken, doors hanging by a hinge. Ivy was starting to creep in from one of the shop windows.

As Dylan went behind the register and accompanying counter, papers were all over the floor, and as he looked at the handwriting, he noted that they were papers containing facts, figures, statistics, tables, and inventories of the items in the store, daily sales, etc. Nothing of use. However, he noticed a marble composition notebook next to the open register, devoid of money. He picked up the notebook, and as he opened it, he saw that the pages were yellowed, but the writing still legible and clear. Judging by the entry-like style, this was probably a diary or journal of some kind. Curious, he jumped ahead to the last entry, and read:

**I underestimated the idea of trying to protect human territory. The plan to clean out the dinosaurs intruding into the city failed. The humans in this world are about to be extinct. We should have never laid our hands on the Third Energy. The military folks still don't get it even after all this. Their plan is to fire the Third Energy Missile in this area of the jungle and wipe the whole area out.**

**They plan to take the Third Energy disk to the Missile Silo in the Jungle and input the data in the warhead. The missile is scheduled to strike this area at noon tomorrow. It's either the missile first or us first... who knows?**

_So the government wants to eradicate all their errors by blowing this entire world up. Typical of American government. Try to cover up their own stupid blunderings by destroying the evidence. Such the American way. Now we have to head back into the jungle, to that Missile Silo, wherever it is. I think I remember seeing it on a map back on the Patrol Ship._

He pressed a button on his intercom to tell Regina and David this latest info, but static greeted his ears.

"Regina? David? This is Dylan, anyone read, over?"

Nothing but static.

"This is Dylan. David! Regina! Do you copy?"

More white noise.

"Damn it. Looks like I'll have to find them now," he said aloud to himself. He turned around, his exploring of the shop done, and headed back out into the quiet street. He walked quickly to the door that Regina went through, and when he entered, it was like entering an abandoned area. This small section of city, with its apartment-like buildings, provided living quarters. A guardhouse some feet away from Dylan's position had been abandoned, as thick ivy vines covered most of the small edifice, long, thinner tendrils of green ivy branching out along the ground, snaking up the sides of the apartment buildings. It was reclaiming what was originally Nature's. A door was at the other end of this small section, and since there was nothing here, he followed the path to the end, and he ended up back out onto a street.

Free of the bloodied mess that seemed to exist in every crack, crevice, nook and cranny of the city, this section seemed pretty quiet and normal. Then again, normal took on a different meaning here, the definition ever changing. Despite the lack of total and utter carnage and ruin, cars still lined this section, their windshields broken, the doors bent, tires missing or deflated, or overturned. Concrete and tarred rubble still scattered the area, and up ahead, a section of road was missing, a large gap between this section of road and the next. He walked slowly toward the gap, his eyes searching for anything that so much as moved—be it human, dinosaur, what have you. He tried to radio for the other two again, and still got only static. Wave interference, the probable cause.

_How could we be so blind? This is the result of our meddling, the result of our thirst for how we can utilize something meant for good and turn it into something horribly, horribly wrong. Shouldn't our rulers get this by now? Was the staggering cost of human life that made this whole mission doomed from the start on any of the minds of those in charge? Shouldn't there be a LESSON learned from all this? We're fucked. For even us remaining to survive, we need to get that data on the Third Energy, and once we have the data, what will happen? Will we finally get out of here? Will the government use it to their own ends, and create a similar incident? What about those helmeted people? Are they still around, or did the government take those too? All I wanted to do was to leave behind my troubled past, better myself, be somewhat of a hero, you know? But what with all this clout of conspiracy and devastation…I'm having second guesses about being in this man's army._

A shot suddenly rang out, and Dylan felt the breeze by his ear as an odd-shaped disk flew by him, flying away, over the edge of the road. He took one glance down, and saw a decent drop—enough to kill a person if they fell over.

…_the fuck?_

He looked around frantically, until his eyes fell upon a rearview mirror, and saw what was becoming a familiar, annoying sight. The startled T.R.A.T. soldier turned around quickly, and saw one of the helmeted people pointing a strange gun at him from very close range. She walked slowly toward him. Unfortunately for him, he had run out of room—engaging the female in combat would be dangerous, since one wrong move would kill him. She pointed the weapon at him, and he raised his hands in the air.

He was caught, and couldn't do a damn thing.

"You got me," he said softly, defeated, his head bowed. A loud cry shot out of nowhere, and in an instant, Dylan recognized the face of the girl he handcuffed on the hovercraft. The helmeted one looked behind her, and Dylan dove out of the way as the girl leaped onto the helmeted one, the mechanical red eye glowing brightly. The blond-haired girl knocked the gun out of her hand, and she grabbed the other, slamming her hard into a car. Her face was twisted in anger, and Dylan could only watch with bewildered amazement as the two grabbed each others' faces, clawing viciously at each other. The helmeted female suddenly grabbed a hold of the girl's neck, and began tugging hard on something, and sounds of ragged gasping and gagging filled the air. Before he could say a word, the girl raised her knee, placing it quickly and firmly into the other's stomach, causing her to double over in pain. An object, a necklace of some kind, flew from her neck, hitting the tar. The girl crouched to the ground, taking in mouthfuls of air. In an instant, the other ran at the girl, and letting out a determined grunt, rammed her elbow into the running woman's stomach, causing her to reel backwards, her hands clutching her stomach in obvious pain.

"Hey!" a voice called in the distance, female.

With a look of sheer determination, the blond girl grabbed the weaker other and dragged her to the edge, and with one loud grunt, she lifted her, and threw her over the edge. The girl looked downward, and a second or two later, Dylan heard a sick _thud_ as the female fell, landing on the ground below. It would be the end of her.

She stood there for a little more time, looking at the lifeless body of the mysterious woman below, lying in a crumpled heap. Dylan got up, began to walk to the girl to help her, thank her, and she turned around, her face changing immediately from one of killing intent to one of panic, the same look Dylan saw when he first met her back on the ship. He reached out a hand to calm her down, but she let out a scared cry, and immediately started running back, running away, scared. She flew past Regina, who was walking up the road toward Dylan. She made no motion to capture her, and when she got to Dylan, she was breathing heavily, catching her breath from running.

"I caught the tail end of that. What happened here?"

"One of the helmeted people came out from nowhere and had me cornered," he began, speaking firmly. "The girl we had on the Patrol Ship came and fought the woman, threw her over. She saved me."

Regina smirked. "Aww, the girls must love you."

"I'm serious." He saw the necklace lying on the ground, and he reached down and picked it up. "This came off our girl's neck—" He stopped in mid-sentence, and a strange look came over his face, one of surprise, maybe as if he knew something, remembered something. Familiarity. The necklace he held was made up of a silver chain, with a stone of amethyst, cut and polished to a smooth oval, set inside a small case.

"What? What's wrong?" Regina asked.

"This is just starting to creep me out," Dylan replied.

"Huh?"

He looked at Regina.

"This is my sister's necklace."

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End of the Chapter. Oh, I'm liking this. For those of you who have played the game, you already know what's coming up. As always, send me those reviews! In a few days, Chapter Nine will be up. Hope you like this story so far.


	10. A Bigger Threat

Note: Oh, I'm happy with all the positive reviews I've been getting! It's making this novel even all the more fun to write and bring to you. Now, onto the anticipated Chapter Nine!

**Chapter Nine: A Bigger Threat**

_**Initial Location: Edward City, highway**_

"What?!" Regina exclaimed, now totally baffled.

"I know," he began, "This can't be possible. It looks so much like the one my sister used to wear."

"What do you mean?" she asked.

He sighed, and began to walk slowly, pacing. "Well, I was a very different person before I joined the army. Just a worthless street thug. At the time, I was in a gang and one day our rivals forced their way into my house. I wasn't home at the time, but my mom and sister were..." His voice trailed off for a second, and he looked skyward. "Well, they're gone. After that, I joined the army, and I've spent every day trying to make up for the past."

Regina walked over and put an arm on his shoulder. "I'm sorry for what happened to your family, but there's nothing I can really do. Hold onto that necklace."

He nodded.

"Come on," she said. "Let's get back to the ship. There's nothing left in this city."

"Oh, yeah," he said, his eyes growing wide. "I tried to radio you earlier, but there was no answer. I found a paper, a journal of something in a shop back in the city—made mention of information on the Third Energy in a missile silo back in the Jungle. However…"

"However, what?" she asked.

"There's an active missile in there, and the government intends on using it to destroy everything, to cover the fuck-ups they caused here. In one of our briefing sessions, they had mentioned that missile silo in passing, saying that that area of the jungle leading to the silo was poisonous as a result of plants producing toxic spores."

"We have a gas mask on the ship," Regina noted. "Let's go."

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_**Location: Marsh Area, Jungle**_

The ride back from Edward City was a quiet one, no surprises from Plesiosaurs or Pterodactyls, or any other creature. A tense silence had fallen over the ship, however. As Regina rode the calm waters back to the Jungle dock, Dylan sat in the seat next to her, his faced lined in thought, never wavering, not changing once the whole ride. He held the necklace in his hand. After they had arrived back at the dock, Regina had pulled two gas masks from the storage unit in the cabin, and offered one to Dylan.

"Thanks, but I'm gonna stay here for a little while longer. I have some thinking to do."

"Suit yourself," Regina said. "Don't take too long, though—I may call you for needed backup."

"I'll only be a little while—I just need to get things in my mind straight." She had left, leaving the T.R.A.T. soldier to his thoughts. On the ship, she had looked at the map of the Jungle area, provided by computers onboard. The easiest route to the poison area leading to the Missile Silo was through the South Route, into the Marsh area, where there was a fork in the path, something she didn't opt to take on the initial trip through there. It had been a very quiet trip to this point—nothing happened, no confrontations with any of the reptilian creatures, not a sound, nothing. When she arrived in the Marsh area, she had taken the path to the left, and she could see the top of the ladder not too far off. The Flame Launcher was gone now, so if there were any poison spore-producing plants, she hoped the gas mask would do its intended job. She stepped to the edge, and noticed it was a long ladder, a long drop to the bottom. As she gazed over, she noticed a thin, purple haze covering the area…not a normal sign of clean air. She wasn't on an acid trip, so she had put on the gas mask, and down she went. At the bottom, she quickly ran through the section, noting the heavy undergrowth in this area. Rocks had unusual plant life growing on them—a blue green moss type plant. Despite the purple haze all around, the flora looked dead, dark brown colors dotting the landscape. She walked through a narrow section of the path, cutting through a section of rock, the surfaces coated with that strange moss which seemed to bubble in places. Not far ahead, she could see the front of a building, but to get to the door, she had to descend two small drops to the bottom level. She took her time getting down, in no real rush.

When she reached the bottom, she saw the single metal door at the end of the path, and as she walked into the edifice, she took off the mask. Abandoned, as per usual, but she was in some kind of disposal chamber. In the center of this small room were large machinery reaching up to the ceiling, with control panels and electrical circuit breakers along the right side wall. The walkway went to the left, and she noticed a desk with papers and tools strewn about the table and floor—nothing useful. A door at the end of the walkway led her back to the outdoors. She kept the gas mask at her side, realizing that she no longer needed the item—the air was clean. It was a large, open area, and directly in Regina's sight were two, large cylindrical chambers, the metal surface brown from rust and neglect. Possibly generators, turbines, power supplies, she had no idea of knowing. However, wires ran from them to a control panel on the other side. As she walked down the small road, some small wooden crates and metal drums stood at the side. The tarmac itself had several large holes in it, as if some large animal tore it up. It didn't look like they were done by humans. With a concrete wall surrounding this section, anything was possible at this point.

At the end of the area, a staircase led down to another door, an abandoned forklift lying unused by the wall, behind a couple of those metal drums, rusted from time and rain. Nothing else was here, so she ventured down the stairwell, and back indoors. She had stumbled upon a room that reminded her very much of most of the rooms and offices back in the Ibis Island facility—the industrial, monotonous gray of it all, the dim florescent lighting, and the computers that seemed to line the walls. One side of this small room was lined with computers and control panels of sorts. A thin, translucent door was closed opposite Regina, and it looked like she couldn't get through—there wasn't a handle anywhere, and when she walked and stood in front of it, it did nothing. In the room, one of the computer monitors actually had power, and was running a screen saver—the Third Energy logo. Next to it, on its corresponding control panel, a small light blinked next to one of its many slots for disks and other removable media. She pressed the button next to it, and out popped a small disk, encased by a thin, clear bluish plastic. On it, a label marked it as "Third Energy Data."

_All of our work, all the lives lost, all the stupid triviality, all for this three-inch wide piece of plastic. Brilliant._

She placed the Third Energy disk inside a pocket, and she powered her wrist intercom.

"Dylan, it's Regina, come in."

A few seconds passed, then his voice came back.

"Dylan here, what's up?"

"I have it—the Third Energy data disk. What's your position?"

"Good—we've finally got it. I'm in the Marsh, on my way to the Missile Silo. I'll be there in a couple minutes."

"I'll be on my way back toward the ship—I'll meet you along the way."

"Got it. Dylan out."

She opened the metal door, and she was back outside. She climbed up the stairs when a loud, booming _thud_ could be heard, sounding very close, quickly followed by another. When she got up to the top of the stairs, she could see it coming down the path, the same monstrosity they met at the compound. The dark green and brown skin, the large, massive body, the single eye—the result of David taking the other with a rocket launcher—looking around the area, back for more.

"Oh, this is just fuckin' great. Again?" Regina yelled to herself. The T-Rex walked slowly toward Regina, then let out a loud, bellowing roar which shook the ground.

"You again? Persistent thing, aren't you?"

Another loud, stepping _thud _shook the area, but it wasn't coming from the T-Rex, but from another large dinosaur outside the walled section.

_Another one?_

The T-Rex stopped in his tracks, its massive head turning in the direction of the sound. A brief moment of tense silence passed through as another loud footstep, closer this time, then another. And another. Suddenly, the thick, cement wall of the launch site broke, sending debris and chunks of concrete and metal flying in all directions, raining pebbles down on the tarmac. A gigantic creature, much bigger than the T-Rex, let out a booming roar, the sheer magnitude of it moving even the T-Rex back a step. Its dark skin, almost a burnt orange, covered its body.

_Oh, my god…the thing's fuckin' huge!!!_

Its massive head was adorned with small thin spikes, forming at what appeared to be a nose, then branched off over its head, and onto its back. Its thick legs, legs as thick as a couple of cars, were bulging with muscle, ending with clawed feet that could easily crush anything it walked over. Two rows of teeth, each tooth taller than a human, lined the top and bottom of its mouth, capable of swallowing a person in one gulp.

_I've never heard of such a creature…let alone seen one in any textbook. They didn't tell us THIS at any of the briefing sessions!_

It let out another mighty roar before moving forward, each step shaking the ground. The T-Rex, looking tiny compared to this creature, lunged forward and sank its jaws into one of the Giganotosaurus gigantic legs. The massive, towering reptilian creature looked down at T-Rex as if to say, "please. Don't even try it." It closed its mouth, and then brought its huge head down quickly on the T-Rex's back. The sound of breaking bones filled the air, and Regina could only look on with amazement as the two titans battled it out. The Giganotosaurus lifted its head again, preparing for another slam into the puny creature below it. It made another attempt to sink its teeth into the leg again, when the stronger creature swung its head, battering into the T-Rex with amazing force, causing it to go airborne, sailing through the air as if it was a baseball. It flew a hundred or so feet away, slamming hard into the concrete wall, sending a cascade of wooden crates, metal drums, and concrete flying everywhere. The crates and drums under were crushed by the massive weight of the T-Rex. A stack of crates near Regina began to topple over, and she dove out of the way to prevent herself from becoming one with the ground. The Giganotosaurus began to walk toward the downed creature. Regina decided to do what any smart person in her situation would do—

_MOVE YOUR ASS!!!!_

She flew down the stairwell, nearly breaking her neck in her attempt to flee the behemoth coming closer. Her hand grabbed the handle, and she dove back into the relative safety of the Data Control Room.

Meanwhile, back up above, the T-Rex rose to its feet, blood pouring from its side, hitting the ground in large drops, and once more lunged at the tall reptile. As it attempted to gnaw at its leg again, the Giganotosaurus opened its jaw wide and captured the T-Rex in its large mouth, the teeth slicing through the thick skin of the T-Rex. It let out a cry of pain as it was being lifted into the air, higher, higher. The dominating monstrosity swung its head back once more, then swung mightily, releasing the T-Rex and sending it hurtling through the air. It flew a couple hundred feet, slamming hard into the generators, sending sparks flying as wires snapped and metal twisted, bent, the loud sounds cutting through the air. The towering dinosaur let out a roar, a roar of victory, of triumph as it walked slowly toward the fatally wounded T-Rex. The bloodied dinosaur squirmed along the air, but couldn't get up—too many bones were broken, too many muscles torn, ripped, destroyed. It was doomed. A shadow settled over the T-Rex, the shape of the Giganotosaur's head looming over. It looked up at the victor, its eyes watery, almost pleading for mercy.

No mercy would be spared, as the winner opened its cavernous mouth, and began to descend, lower, lower, then quickly snapped its jaw on the loser's head, crushing it instantly, the sounds of bone breaking, blood squirting out of the victor's mouth, hitting the walls with a sickening splat as it dripped down the walls.

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She leaned against a desk, breathing heavily, lucky to be alive.

_What the hell was THAT THING?!_

With one hand, she wiped the sweat off her forehead, the adrenaline beginning to wear off.

_And Dylan's going to have to get through there…_

She could hear the roaring outside, still feel the booming steps. Then, they stopped, and she just had a hunch, no, she _knew_ that the T-Rex had not lived. No way. She heard the door open and close behind her, and she drew her pistol instinctively, turning around to face the enemy—

--and she saw Dylan clutching his shotgun, stopping suddenly, his eyes wide with shock.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold it!" He yelled.

"Sorry," she said, holstering her handgun. "You scared me, dipshit!"

"Excuse me for living," he shot back. "But first things first. You found the Third Energy disk?"

She reached into her pocket and pulled out the shiny plastic. "Here it is—everything we've done since we've been here—all the lives lost, all the misfortunes, and all for this stupid thing."

"Be that as it may," he began, "we've got the disk. We can get out of here. There's a dock behind the Missile Silo—we can get out there. Come on, let's go."

Suddenly, the room shook violently, catching both of them off guard, sending both of them to the ground.

"What the fuck?" Dylan screamed angrily. "I was in _no way _prepared for that!"

The two soldiers could hear footsteps nearby, loud ones, the steps of a huge creature moving about.

"What is that? It sounds like our Cyclops friend again!"

"It can't be," Regina began. "That T-Rex is already—" She stopped, paused, and thought about that last statement for a few seconds.

_Wait—in order to get to this room, he would have HAD to come through the Launch Site, meaning that he would have seen the dead T-Rex and subsequently, the massive giant that killed it…oh, you IDIOT!!!_

She reached out her hand and gave him a smart smack upside the head, yelling, "you stupid blond! You _had _to see the thing dead! There's no other possible way to get here than through the Launch Site."

He sighed, admitting defeat. "Yeah, yeah, yeah, shut up. Point taken, now let's get the fuck out of here!"

A female voice came over a speaker in the room. "Attack on missile launcher confirmed. Activating emergency interception mode." A loud siren cut through the air, blaring obnoxiously and flashing red lights. On the opposite wall, the blue translucent door slid open, allowing access to the next part of the room. "Missile launch in ten minutes. Evacuate immediately."

The two soldiers ran to the next section, and on the wall was a large screen, the word **WARNING** all across it, with a countdown timer ticking the seconds until missile launch.

"Ahh, the computer's malfunctioned," Dylan noted.

"No, it didn't. That creature's trying to break into the Missile Silo. It's set to activate a defense mechanism if such an event occurs—standard procedure, idiot," Regina corrected.

"Where's the control panel for the missile?"

"Probably inside the warhead or on it. Can't do anything here—all the buttons on the panel are locked," she said, heading for a door just ahead of her. "I'll go to the missile and shut off the defense mechanism, you go ahead and evacuate. Don't worry about me—I'll radio you." She hit a button, and the door slid open, revealing an elevator shaft.

"Ok…you be careful," he said, then ran back out the way they came, leaving her alone once more. She walked inside the elevator, and the lift began to rise.

_Oh, this is going to be FUN!!!_

The lift took her to the inside of the Missile Silo, a large room, octagonal in structure. It seemed the length of a football field from one wall to its corresponding parallel opposite. It was tall, taller than most buildings, a retractable ceiling two hundred feet up. Gray seemed to be the color, as per usual—it was industrial standard in any facility. It was brightly lit, and in the center of this huge room was the government's fail-safe, the missile meant to cover up its terrible blunderings through this entire operation. It was surrounded by a tall, yellow fence structure, a ramp encircling the tall enclosure, spiraling all the way to the top. The walkway went around the perimeter of the silo, and two large fuel pumps, spaced far apart, stuck out, attached to the railing. Along one side was a large glass window, many control panels and computers inside—probably a control room for the launch or something. Below her, a thirty or so foot drop to the ground. With about nine minutes left, she began to run along the platform, and as she got to the large glass window between the first and second gas pump, a violent crash shot through the air, and as she took a startled look to her left, she saw a big cloud of dust as metal and concrete debris fell to the ground. As it began to clear, she could see the burnt orange scaled skin, the raised skin forming tiny spikes along its head, the jaw slightly agape, its teeth red.

_Of course. It's never easy…always seems to come when there's a countdown to imminent doom. Never fails. Looks like this one's right on schedule._

An alarm began to sound, red flashing lights accompanying the blaring noise. Again, that same calm female voice could be heard over the public address: "Warning. Access routes to missile launcher are closed."

_What?!_

Up ahead, she saw a section of the platform lower itself, making it impossible to leap across. She'd have to do _something_ or everything was doomed. The Giganotosaurus made its way across the floor, each loud footstep vibrating the platform on which she stood. Seeing the two gas pumps, no hoses attached, an idea formed in her head—there was no way she'd be able to at least render the beast unconscious with her pistol and stun gun, or her Chainmine. This idea was dangerous, because it could have meant a violent explosion, but either way—something was going to blow up. Running back to the first gas pump, she saw two buttons—both back-lit. One was green, the other red. Obviously, one turned it on, one turned it off. As the creature got ever closer, she hit the green button, and suddenly a long column of liquid, aerosol fuel came shooting out of the pump, and as the creature walked into it, she placed the tip of the slender stun gun into the spraying fuel, and suddenly the pump became a massive flamethrower as a twenty-foot column of flame quickly shot out, igniting the fuel, and igniting the creature's face on fire. It let out a roar as she could hear the gas bubbling, and she let out a chuckle of sorts.

In a few seconds, the gas flow turned off, and the red button was lit, meaning that it was taking its time to re-pressurize itself. As the last of the flames faded, Regina ran ahead, toward the second gas pump. The towering creature let out a roar, angry and bellowing. Something about having its face on fire didn't sit well with the mighty giant, and it came for her, moving quicker than before, each booming _thud_ louder than the previous one. She slammed the green button, and another column of fuel shot out, spraying the dinosaur with its spray. A second later, she touched the stun gun to the fuel and another hot blast of liquid fire caught the creature's head, setting it ablaze. She could see the scaly skin bubbling, the flames burning the skin away, charring it.

"Seven minutes until interception," the voice said.

She ran back as the creature stumbled back a couple steps, the flames fading. She could see the smoke starting to come off the head of the Giganotosaurus, and as she ran back to the first fuel pump, she saw the light was still red…and the creature had its gaze fixated on her.

"Come on, come on," she pleaded. "Change, you stupid light!"

It got closer, just feet away now from her. Regina tried to run forward, away from the creature's advancing, and it let out a bellowing roar, and she could feel its hot breath blowing strong and powerful, reeking of death, a pungent stench which quickly sent a wave of nausea through her system. The force of the wind sent Regina to the ground, and as she got up, she could see the massive head very close, its mouth open, planning to snatch her off the platform, ending her life. She dove out of the way as the creature's head crashed into the wall, just missing her by a mere foot. She landed hard on her side, the non-injured one, but a slight pain still shot through her back, causing her face to wince. As the reptile pulled away from the wall, a nice hole now in it, Regina bolted for the nearest pump, and she got there just in time to see the light go from red to green. The dinosaur turned its body in her direction, and began to quickly move. When it aligned with the pump, she slammed the green button, creating another shower of fuel which coated the creature's face. Again, she touched the tip of the live stun gun to the spraying fuel, and saw a spark leap off into the combustible, and another column of fire flew, setting the head of the Giganotosaurus ablaze once more. It wailed, stumbling back a few steps, waving its head around to try to extinguish the flames. Bubbles began to form on the head, bubbles filled with blood. She heard one of them pop, and saw a bit of blood shoot from it, hitting the ground with a sick splat.

Regina began running for the opposite fuel pump before the other stopped, hoping it would be finished pressurizing.

"Five minutes until emergency interception."

_I know, I know! Shut up!_

As the last of the flames died, the creature's head was now showing signs of burn damage, its head becoming blacker and blacker, a contrast to the rest of its body, a dark orange. It pounded the ground with each step, menacing and foreboding. She noticed the monstrosity moving its head erratically, and she knew it was getting close to falling. When she arrived at the other pump, she could make out the bright green light, its pressurizing process completed. The behemoth almost seemed as if it was plodding, its weakened body not as menacing as at the outset, but still dangerous—the killing instinct was still at play here, and she didn't drop her guard for even a second. As the creature drew near within range of the fuel spray, she pressed the button, the pump releasing its contents, coating the creature once more with the viscous fluid. As she touched the stun gun to the fuel once more, it let out a roar, its mouth wide—and suddenly, the head was on fire, a massive, glowing orange and yellow fireball, which knocked the creature back a few steps.

"Four minutes until emergency interception."

It let out another roar, and it raised one leg in the air—and she saw the creature fall back, teetering, its leg going higher and higher into the air, and saw the thing fall, its head still ablaze. The massive, towering creature fell, hitting the ground with such force, violently shaking the missile silo to its very foundations, and she fell to her knees. The Giganotosaurus had fallen, and as the last of the flames died out, she could see the large stomach rising and falling slowly.

_It's not dead…it's just unconscious. Then I better move my ass._

Beads of perspiration had covered her face, glistening in the florescent lights of the silo. With one hand, she wiped her forehead, and rose to her feet.

"Attention," the female voice began, "Access routes to the missile are opened." Ahead, the section of path that had sunk to floor level rose, and locked into place. With less than four minutes to go, she ran to the end of the octagonal platform, and crossed the bridge to get to the ramp up to the top of the missile. As she ran up the spiraling path, she could hear a slight noise coming from the unconscious dinosaur.

"Less than three minutes until emergency interception."

She spotted a small lift that would take her up to the top of the structure, to the control panel at the top of the missile. She hit the up button, and it seemed to move up very slowly, such always being the case in situations like these. The end came into view, and she was at the top. She walked quickly to the end of the path, where she saw a tiny platform to the missile's panel. There were several buttons on the panel, one of which a big red one.

_I hope you're it…_

She pressed the button, applying some force as it slowly compressed. Once it was fully pressed, a beep sounded, and the sirens and alarms shut off, silence once again returning to the silo.

"Emergency interception procedure stopped. Deactivating system."

Regina slumped to the floor, taking a moment or two to catch her breath.

_You know…after this is all over, I'm putting in my resignation, getting my honorable discharge and getting the FUCK out. I'm sick of this bullshit._

A minute or so passed, maybe more, but she finally got up. She had to get back down, nab Dylan, and evacuate before that beast woke. She took the lift back down to the ramp, and began to walk quickly downward. As she was halfway down, something inside her told her to speed up, to hurry. As she neared the bottom, fear started to creep inside, and her heart began to quicken.

The Giganotosaurus opened its eyes.

A low growl filled the silo once more, and she could hear the body moving, struggling to get up.

_Oh, fuck, no! Fuck! Fuck, no!_

She was close to the outer walkway, just getting close to the bottom of the ramp, the creature in her view, and she heard it flip over, saw it getting back on its feet. She broke out in a full run, hope almost there, just a few feet further—and the creature swung back its huge, blackened head, and slammed it into the metal structure, roaring as it did, sending a huge wave of sparks showering down on Regina. The impact caused her to press against a railing, stopping her from falling to her death. In a heartbeat, she continued running, and suddenly the creature was on the move again, coming around the corner, and Regina could see it gaining. Alarms went off again, and she could hear somewhere, somewhere in the sea of angry footsteps, roaring, and breaking metal, that female voice, that calm, female voice telling her of doom. It let out another angry roar, brought its head back, and slammed it once more into the metal casing, the sounds of breaking metal thundering in her ears.

Ahead, the path broke, and suddenly she was falling, falling down. The ramp was getting higher and higher from her sight, from her reach. She let out a grunt, and with all her strength, she hurled herself into the air, sparks hitting her in the face. Her hands reached, and they made contact, grabbing the cold metal surface. Now, nothing but air was below her, air and concrete. She could see the creature almost next to her, its bright green eye looking right at her. The scared soldier let out a terrified whimper, and pulled herself upwards, continuing her mad dash to safety. The monster pulled its head back, and slammed it once more into the structure, and as Regina made it back to the outer platform, she took one look back, and she could see it, but couldn't believe it—her mind refused to accept it at first. She saw the towering missile falling, breaking through what was left of the thick yellow metal fencing around it, falling toward the ground, falling toward her.

She ran along the path as fast as her legs would carry her, and as it continued its rapid falling, she stopped at the large glass window, and as the missile neared the ground, she dove through the glass, shattering all around her. As she hit the ground into an unfamiliar room, the missile hit the ground, and a brilliant, awesome display of orange and yellow light lit the entire silo from top to bottom, accompanied by a massive, booming explosion which sent metal structural beams crashing down to the floor, igniting the ground, setting the entire missile silo ablaze.

---------------------------

End of Chapter. Wow. Yeah, that was fun to write. However, mentally draining. Read on to the next chapter!


	11. Meet the Gatekeeper

**Chapter Ten: Meeting the Gatekeeper**

Somehow, despite the explosion that rocked the entire missile silo, she should have been, by all rights, dead. Yet, she was lying face down on the tiled floor, shaken and nerved, breathing heavily. Sweat was rolling down her face as she felt intense heat on all sides. She could hear fires crackling all around her; hear debris and metal breaking, landing on the flaming ground.

"Attention," that same calm, cool and collected female voice began, "missile destroyed. Third Energy warhead armed."

She slowly rose to her feet, her ears ringing, her head still pounding from the explosion that occurred a minute ago. Luckily, she'd only took some minor scrapes, possibly a couple of bruises. The adrenaline coursing through her veins blocked out the pain from her wound, received by the Plesiosaur back in the underwater area of the Third Energy facility.

_You know…someone's gonna pay for all this. Someone is going to pay heavily for this…now I'm pissed._

It was a scene of total ruin and destruction in the launch control room. Glass was shattered, lying in shards of all sizes along the control panels, along the floor. Looking into the silo, all she saw were large patches of bright orange and yellow flame. A chunk of ceiling fell some feet away from her. She was standing inside an oven, patches of flame all around her. She pressed a button on her intercom, but nothing happened—not even static.

_Shit…radio's out._

To her left, a set of stairs led down to a door—the other door in the room was blocked by fire. She grabbed her pistol out her holster and ran down the stairwell, and opened the door, leading into a room which was in total shambles. It was a long room, and as she ran through the long stretch of oven, she could see metal support beams collapsed, walls in shambles, machinery and control panels ruined. Wires and piping along the walls were split, broken, on fire. As the walkway went to the right, she saw a massive pipe rent in two, flames shooting out the tears in the metal. She could see the door at the end of the hall, and as it slid open, she could see the door next straight ahead a couple hundred feet ahead. The walls were lined with metal drums, an empty fuel tank or two, and crates, dented. Bits of concrete lined the floor, and patches of orange flame seeped out from holes in the piping above. Behind her, she heard a crash, and she saw a beam fall to the floor, sending a wave of sparks down to the floor. She picked up her pace a bit, and when she opened the next door, a wave of cool air washed over her body, and she could see Dylan and the cowboy David on the hovercraft some feet ahead, David sitting on a box.

Dylan quickly ran to Regina. "Are you ok?"

She nodded. "Yeah. My head's pounding from that explosion, but I'll be fine."

"Good. When I heard the explosion, I thought you were a goner. We had made it out in time, and when I saw the explosion, I tried to radio you, but got nothing."

"Yeah," she agreed. "My radio's ruined. Blast took it out."

"Nothing we can do about it now," Dylan said. "Let's get out of here."

"Aww, gimme a break!" David lamented. "We're dead."

Regina shot him a look of pure annoyance. "No, we're not. However, if you like to be, I can gladly arrange that. _Now, shut up!_"

With Dylan leading, the others followed him into the cockpit cabin. "We have to get as far away from this place as possible. Let's go downriver." He hopped into the driver's seat, and after pressing some buttons and adjusting some controls, the craft hummed to life, and quickly they were moving down the wide fast-moving river. However, only a couple minutes passed when the three spotted a gate in the water, blocking any further access.

"Shit!" Dylan swore under his breath. He could hear Regina let out a sigh of annoyance, David letting out a groan. Dylan started to slow the craft down,

"Great, the water gate's closed! We can't go any further," David complained.

Dylan threw him dirty look. "We see that, genius."  
"Wait!" Regina said. "I see a valve on top of the gate, with a ladder leading up to it. Maybe if we turn that valve, the gate will open. We'll open it manually."

"Worth a shot," Dylan replied. "Let's go, Regina."

"Whoa there!" David cut in, looking at Regina with a smug grin. "Let the _men _handle this." He looked at Dylan. "Let's go, bro. Wait. Hold on a sec." He went into the ship cabin, and emerged a few seconds later, a rocket launcher propped on his shoulder.

"Where the hell did you get that weapon?" Dylan asked, his facial features showing surprise.

"Found it in Edward City," David replied, grinning. "Now let's go."

Regina sat down in the driver's seat. "You boys, play nice now." As she heard the door close, she had an evil thought.

_I hope some dinosaur gets you, you prick._

She could see the two of them climbing up the ladder, and could see the two having some conversation at the top. The two went in different directions—Dylan climbed up another ladder, to the top of a firing platform, probably keeping guard in case any raptors or other unwanted guests showed up, and David ran toward the valve. The walkway on top of the gate was very wide, and judging from the looks, it also served as a bridge for foot soldiers or other personnel.

With a loud grunt, Regina could see David attempting to turn the valve, but having a rough time of it. She couldn't help but smile when she saw the difficulty David was having with the valve.

_So, David…let the _men _handle it? Riiiiiiight._

After some failed attempts, she could see him call for Dylan. He laughed as he jumped off the platform, and came to David's aid. She saw Dylan roll up his sleeves, then steel himself against the concrete floor and attempt to turn the valve. Slowly, it began to turn, and Regina could see the thick gate starting to open. She stood ready to steer the Patrol Ship through the gate, and as the gate opened more and more, she pulled a lever on the panel, and slowly moved the ship through, passing under the two soldiers. She moved the craft to the shore, then stopped it, waiting for the two to come back.

"I rule!" David exclaimed.

"What the hell do you mean, 'I rule'? I helped you!" Dylan shot back. As the two made it back to the ground, they heard a loud roar, diverting their attention behind them. He recognized the blue-skinned creature immediately—another of those pesky Allosaurus, barreling along the dirt path, its mouth open, David directly in its line of fire.

Dylan's eyes grew wide, and with a burst of speed, he dove for his comrade, screaming. "Watch out!" He slammed into the cowboy, sending him flying, out of the way of death, knocking his rocket launcher out of his hand. . He landed hard on the ground, with more force than he expected, knocking the wind out of him. As David lay sprawled on the ground, Dylan tried to get up, but collapsed to the ground again, gasping for air. The dinosaur stood over the stunned soldier, then brought its head down, and with its jaw open, snatched Dylan up in its mouth.

He let out a scream of pure terror as he could feel the dinosaur applying pressure on his body. He could feel the rows of teeth pressing against his midsection, and knew that he was done for. In a few seconds, those teeth would pierce his body and that would be it.

Regina was starting to grow a little suspicious. She had heard some noise, but was mostly oblivious as to the events going on outside, not knowing that her partner was just seconds away from a most bloody death.

"Oh, no, you don't!" David shrieked, scrambling to his feet. He snatched the rocket launcher off the ground, quickly propping it upon his shoulder, took aim at the creature's side, and fired. A plume of smoke quickly formed at the rear of the weapon, and a long, thin projectile shot out of the barrel, smoke trailing behind it as it sliced through the air, slamming into the creature's side with intense force, ripping a large, gaping hole accompanied by a shower of blood raining down on the brown earth. The reptile opened its mouth wide, roaring back in pain as it staggered back a step, releasing Dylan from its tightening grip. He landed hard on the ground.

Regina heard the explosion from inside the ship, and instantly knew something was wrong. In no time, she ran out of the cockpit, and when she turned the corner of the craft, she saw the battle in progress. She started to climb the ladder to the machine gun up top, but voices deterred her. She saw Dylan getting up, and now the angry dinosaur set its sights on Dylan again.

"I'll save ya, bro!" David yelled, and as the dinosaur was starting to move again, he slammed his body into Dylan's, sending him flying into the air, landing into the river. In the fast current, Dylan tried to swim to shore, wanting to help his comrade, but the force of the current hindered any of that. He could only watch helplessly as he saw the pissed Allosaurus grab David in its jaws, the rocket launcher still gripped in his hand.

"David! Noooooo!" Dylan yelled, his voice fading as he was moving quickly downriver. The cowboy let out a shriek of total fear, and no one could do anything. She took one step forward, possibly out of instinct, out of fear.

"David!" Regina yelled, her heart pounding wildly, knowing what was about to happen. He turned his head to Regina, and as he did, he could feel the dinosaur clamp down hard on his frail body, the sounds of bone breaking filling the air, the teeth piercing the soft organs inside. The rocket launcher fell to the ground, hitting the ground with a dull thud. He let out a shriek of pain before his vision went all red, and blood starting trickling out of its mouth, hitting the earth with a sickening splat as the cowboy soldier's insides starting hitting the ground. Regina turned away, the sight too much to bear as another wave of nausea rocked her stomach. His hat, stained with blood, came off his head, and landed softly in the pool of his own fluid. In just seconds, Regina was all alone now—David, crushed, and Dylan, floating downriver. Where he'd end up was anyone's guess. What mattered now was her survival, for she was all that she had left.

-----------------------------

End of Chapter 10. Yeah, a short chapter, but it was necessary, for in my notes and in the game, this would end up being probably a 10-15 page chapter. For those who've played the game, you know what's coming up next. For those who haven't, hope you're enjoying the story! Let me know how I'm doing with a review. Read on to Chapter 11!


	12. Emergence of Truth

Note: Two documents from the game made it into this chapter, marked by boldface type. It's getting close, people! This novel's nearing its end!

**Chapter Eleven: Emergence of Truth**

_**Initial Location: Habitat Support Facility**_

He was lying face down in the damp earth, not unconscious, but just resting his body up. He was thoroughly soaked from head to toe, his blond hair matted to his head, his blue eyes bloodshot. Every muscle in his body was sore, each one screaming for oxygen, running solely on anaerobic respiration. After trying to fight the fast-moving current of the river for a considerable amount of time, his body, tired and weakened, just gave up, and he went wherever the river took him.

Some time passed, whether it was minutes or hours. All he knew now was that he was alone—David was dead and Regina was at the Patrol Ship, last he recalled. She was probably searching for him right now, or maybe not. All he wanted was some answers, some closure, and getting the hell out of here didn't seem like a bad idea also. He slowly rose to his feet, amazed that his shotgun was still hanging around his body, not getting lost in the current. When he lifted his head, he saw her again—that girl they had on the ship, the girl who fought with the helmeted one back in Edward City, that same mysterious girl. Her blond hair seemed neat, her eyes looking inquisitive.

A puzzled look showed on the T.R.A.T. soldier's face. "You again?"

She just stared at him, her face relaxed, not panicked at all. "Ho…home…" she uttered, trying to reach out to him.

He took a step forward, his face still showing confusion. "What? What are you trying to say?"

She pointed behind her, down a path, leading to somewhere. "Home…"

"I don't understand," he said. "Do you want me to come with you?"

She turned around and began to walk away, down the path. Dylan ejected the soaked, nearly empty magazine from the weapon. He opened an ammo pocket on his flak jacket, took another wet clip and placed it in the gun, locking it in place. With the girl walking away from him, he began to pick up the rear, his shotgun armed and in hand, his guard up. Wherever they were going, it looked like they were going through a jungle area first, the lush trees and plants that lined the path giving off a light wind which was a welcome. With the high, hot sun beating down on him, drying him off, air wasn't a bad thing. The path went over a small stream before turning to the right around a large stone. As the two turned again, Dylan could see a very large, odd-looking door. From the looks of it, there was no handle, no button to open it with. At the door, the girl stopped, and raised her wrist to the door. Out of it, a small device emerged, and entered a small hole in the door. Dylan could hear the sounds of small gears working, then heard a louder set of mechanics as the door itself opened, revealing a new section of unknown territory.

Dylan and the girl walked in this new area, the area surrounded by jungle, but something about this place seemed odd, too modern for this time period, seeming out of place. A gray stone path led to a large, circular opening with a small pit in the center. The girl walked ahead, stopping to get occasional glances of the curious soldier. She walked quickly, as if she knew where she was. As Dylan walked to the center circular section, he saw six pillars, arranged in a circle around him. On each one was a plaque of sorts, each one moving in chronological order in a counter-clockwise direction. Dylan started reading the plaques, and realized that these six pillars was some sort of a commemoration to something. Starting from the first one on his right and going around, they read:

_The First Commemoration Monument: Dr. Edward Kirk. In commemoration of the Third Energy Theory._

_The Second Commemoration Monument: To the Republic of Bolzinia. In commemoration of the government who changed clean energy to a weapon._

_The Third Commemoration Monument: Spacetime Meteorite. In commemoration of the Overdrive, the end of the Cretaceous._

_The Fourth Commemoration Monument: Timegate. In commemoration of the transformation from weapon to the Timegate._

_The Fifth Commemoration Monument: Paradise. In commemoration of the establishment of the same environment as the late Cretaceous._

_The Sixth Commemoration Monument: Noah's Ark. In commemoration of the human race who came to this world and created a "Paradise."_

After reading those, Dylan found himself even more baffled.

_Noah's Ark? Overdrive? Just what exactly was the plan for the Third Energy? And the Overdrive, the end of the Cretaceous…does that mean that the history we've come to know, the end of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago, is totally null and void? Did humans come back and somehow transport the dinosaurs via Third Energy to another time, to this "Paradise"? What's going on here? _

The girl was way ahead by now, and as Dylan left the display of commemoration monuments, he climbed up a ladder, and he could see another of the odd doors ahead. At the door, the girl stood, waiting for Dylan. As he arrived, she turned and raised her wrist to the door, inserting whatever object it was into the small hole. With a loud click, the door slid open, revealing yet another strange area. When the two entered, she suddenly ran ahead, sprinting almost.

"Wait!" he called, but to no avail. A couple hundred feet away, she climbed up a short ladder, and stopped at a control panel just in front of four large laser beams going across the walkway, blocking access. She pressed some buttons, and in a few seconds, the beams were gone. She walked quickly to the door, and then disappeared, gone through. Dylan walked slowly here, his eyes taking this new, bizarre sight in. The path opened to a wide area, and he saw four tall towers, two on either side of him, possibly power controls, he didn't know. Each tower was a different color—from left to right, red, green, yellow, blue. Each one stood upon a raised platform.

_Something about this whole place doesn't seem right at all. First of all, this place is the only area that doesn't have that abandoned, left-for-dead look. There is no ivy, no moss or any signs of neglect anywhere. Second, the girl seems to know exactly where she's going, what she's doing. This area seems too modern, advanced, looking like something out of a futuristic science fiction show._

He climbed up the same ladder the girl went up, and when he got to the top, he picked up his pace a little, and as he approached the large door, it slid open, and Dylan found himself indoors, and suddenly he was in a totally different world, unlike anything he'd ever come into contact with. The square room was silent, except for a low ambient hum. Blue lights were set into black and gray walls, and the floor was a metallic gray, with lights set into the floor around the outside perimeter. He walked to a railing and looked over, saw nothing but black. He felt as if he'd walked onto a spaceship. Ahead, an opened doorway led to a narrow bridge, to another door. In the center of this room was a large computer, its surface, which was also its screen, was flat. On it, the display was broken up into grid form, and Dylan recognized it as a map of this world, or at least, the explored areas, outlined in green, set to a black background. In the dead center, a single sheet of paper sat, as if someone deliberately placed the paper there. Dylan picked it up, noticing the typed face of the words, and read the document, entitled "Superintendent's Will."

**I knew it would all come to this. There are no way humans and dinosaurs could ever coexist. But if we sacrifice our lives now, we would leave a chance for the existence of the human race. The irony is that this whole facility which we are trapped in was built to sustain a suitable environment for the dinosaurs.**

**I am the superintendent of the facility and I'm the only one left. I don't belong here. There is no future for this world. The children hurt by the dinosaurs have been put inside life-support chambers. I trust that the people of the "past" will take care of them. The life-support chambers are almighty. It should be able to heal any wound, no matter how critical they may be. Also the life-support chambers will feed knowledge and teach them about this world. However, the chambers were originally designed for the growth of dinosaurs. Thus the knowledge fed will be limited to the knowledge of coexisting with the dinosaurs. The tragedy is that the children will eventually lose their speaking ability. But instead they will have been inputted the instincts to protect the dinosaurs.**

**Today I have recorded my message for the man who will definitely come here. With this I have nothing to regret.**

Something went off in Dylan's head, something screaming clarity in his mind as a major piece of the puzzle clicked into reality.

_So THAT'S who those helmeted people were! That's who that girl is! They were children of the people living here, and that's why she can't speak well. They attacked us because they viewed us as a threat to the dinosaurs of which they were trying to protect—which meant that the child I saw in the Research Facility would've ended up being one of them too...and so they only know how to protect. _

However, his mind was not fully clear.

_And which man is this person referring to? Me? Is that where this girl is taking me?_

With answers not coming, he put the paper back down and walked through the doorway, and slowed his pace quickly as he walked over the narrow bridge, only wide enough for one person. One slip and he'd fall into the bottomless blackness. Dylan looked down, and could see his reflection on the blue, translucent tiles which served as the bridge. The door ahead slid open quickly, and he found himself in a narrow hallway, industrial gray on all sides of him. Some thirty feet ahead, the walkway opened into a large room, a huge monitor display on the wall straight ahead of his position. In the center stood another one of those flat displays, and connected to it, a long stretch of computers and control panels went for a few feet, then branched off in a T formation along the wall just under the display. Gray was everywhere. Swivel chairs sat empty in a few spots, and Dylan saw some words on the display, nothing important. Something caught Dylan's eye, and he noticed yet another sheet of paper on the flat panel display, as if someone once again was here and deliberately arranged it, knowing that someone was going to be passing through this area. Again, he picked it up and read the typed words:

**Year 2009**

**It all began in Bolzinia, a small republic in the southern sea. The first "Overdrive" was the beginning of everything. During transportation something went wrong and it resulted in a crack in the space-time which skewed history after the Cretaceous Era. To investigate the skewed biological history after the Cretaceous, an extensive experiment was conducted in a global scale. The result...devastating. The "Spacetime skew" would take its effect on all living organisms. The Earth's history would change dramatically and the change would wipe the human race from ever existing. That was the conclusion of the experiment. The plan was to transport the living organisms of the Cretaceous through the Timegate to a world with similar environments, far into the future. After the crisis had passed, the organisms would then be returned to their original time. We called this the Noah's Ark Plan. This was the only plan that would leave any chance for the existence of the human race. We hope that this plan is successful and we shall declare execution of this plan.**

**WAPP Central Council**

This only drove Dylan to further confusion, and he began to question mentally what was what—just what was going on here?

_This is what happens when the government decides to play with new toys without reading the instructions first…they're talking the demise, or rather, the nonexistence of the human race? This doesn't make any sense…only thing to do is to press on._

Behind him, an open door led to a small hall, a door at the end. Walking quickly, he got to the door, and opened it, leaving the large room behind him, many questions on his mind.

------------------------------------

It was the honorable thing to do in a situation like this—then again, this was a situation that usually never surfaced itself. Never did she think she would have had to clean up after a dinosaur attack which left a soldier dead, or more specifically, mutilated. After the Allosaurus killed the cowboy, David Fork, the reptile let him drop, his body totally bloodied, large tooth-shaped punctures all throughout his body, making him appear almost perforated. The dinosaur didn't stay after that—it had done what instinct had told it to do, and rather than eat it or go after Regina, it just turned and went back the way it had come, as if nothing happened. She felt that even though she didn't really much care for the female-loving soldier, she couldn't just leave him there for the Pterodactyls and other scavenger creatures to get to the decomposing body. Even though he looked the appearance of chewed gum, he wasn't split into any pieces. She picked him up by the legs and dragged him across the soft, brown earth toward the moving river, his blood smearing the ground as he was moved toward the river. She took a couple steps down the short slope, and his body naturally slid into the water, gravity taking over.

She took a couple steps into the water, carefully taking his body and placing it in the clear, cool river. Water seeped into his clothes, and the still-flowing blood swirled and mixed with the water, diffusing with it. She placed her arms on his chest, and gave him a gentle push toward the center of the river, where the current moved fastest. She saw him drift slowly out, away from her, and the lifeless body began to move downriver. Regina walked back onto dry land and saw his helmet some feet away. She walked over, and picked up the hat slowly, almost as if this was a sort of ritual. In a way, it was—she was sending him off into the unknown. She walked back to the edge of the river again, and his body was already a ways out, becoming smaller and smaller. She brought her arm toward her, as if she was going to throw a Frisbee.

"Goodbye, David," she said softly, solemnly. She threw the blood-stained hat into the air, watched it spinning outward, descending, then landing in the water, where gravity and the current would take it wherever the river ended up. The soldier stood there for a few minutes, the cool air blowing in her face, tossing her short, straight red hair back a bit, some falling into her eyes. As the last of David faded from view, her next move was clear—she had to find Dylan. He was alive, she knew it, and she couldn't just carry out the rest of the mission herself—she had no idea where to even begin. She walked back out onto the deck of the Patrol Ship, and when she got back into the cockpit, a somber silence provided a strange ambience. She was alone, all alone. The realization of this hit her, and her skin broke out in goose bumps, as fear briefly shot through her veins.

_I have to find him. There's nothing I can do._

As she slowly sat in the driver's seat, one very important question came to mind:

_Where do I even begin? Just go downriver, I suppose, hope I find something._

The craft had already been running, so she pushed a lever, and the ship began to move slowly. She didn't want to move fast—the river was wide enough to accommodate the ship, but it could possibly narrow, and she'd have to travel by foot if it came to that.

She was trolling downriver, her eyes scanning the surrounding areas for a bridge, another gate, a path somewhere, anything possible for Dylan to wash up on. She had no doubt in her mind that he was around—his body was strong, and drowning seemed highly unlikely. It wouldn't take her long, maybe ten, fifteen minutes at most for her eyes to find a small, open space to her right, a couple hundred feet away. She slowed the craft down, and turned it to the right slightly, riding closer to shore. Suddenly, the ship rocked briefly as Regina hit the shore, catching her off-guard, almost sending her out of the chair. As the ship came to a stop along the edge, she shut everything down. It was in a section of river that was calmer, and the anchor would keep the thing in place. She stepped off the ship, onto the damp earth below. Looking down, she could make out footsteps imprinted in the moist earth, and a dark, rectangular object on the ground. She reached down and picked it up, and instantly recognized it as a shotgun clip, meant for a shotgun capable of firing off several rounds without having to reload each time.

_Something like Dylan's…could he have ended up here? _

With nothing else possible to go on, she decided that she'd investigate here, see where it ended up. What did she have left to lose?

-----------------------------------

A knot was forming in the pit of the soldier's stomach. Again, he walked into a world totally unknown to anyone. He walked into a huge, multi-level room, two sets of stairs leading down to the lower level. He was surrounded by large glass tubes, stacked three or so high, and going back to the walls in an unknown number. There must have been maybe twenty, thirty, maybe forty of these large tubes, and as he looked around, awe-struck and totally amazed, he could make out the silhouettes, shapes, and figures of humans inside each tube. Pipes and wires branched out to and from every tube, providing maybe some life support?

_Why are people inside the tubes? What purpose was this for?_

The confused, yet fascinated soldier took each step slowly, his blue eyes wide with wonder, and as he went down each step, all he could do was choke out a simple, "wow…" Now this really looked like something out of a science fiction show, getting weirder and stranger by the minute. Faint sounds at the bottom level caught his attention, and he could hear the sounds of clacking keys over the soft hum of machinery, or something like it.

_Incredible…_

The walkway gave way to a clearing, surrounded on all sides by computers and display screens, all of them showing what seemed to be vital signs and various statuses of those in the big glass tubes. Along the corners of the room, small projection screens were placed, but nothing was showing now. In the center of this open area was a tall, square machine, with a bright blue light emanating from the top. A few feet of space separated it from an upper section, with structural support and wiring running up its length, blue light coming from its bottom. Judging by the looks of it, perhaps computer simulations were run on this machine, holographic images of sorts. Some feet straight ahead was a clear, translucent gate, and he could make out something behind it, probably a door.

He could see the girl typing away on one of the keyboards, her facial features showing a sort of determination, if you will. From the looks of it, she knew what she was doing, and a few seconds later, a bright white light came from the center of the machine, and as Dylan looked into it, an image came into view. As it came into clearer focus, Dylan noticed that it was a holographic image of a man. His physical appearance gave the look that he was in his fifties, maybe sixties, his hair and mustache gray. He looked very fit for his age, his shoulders broad, the chest muscles outlined through his blue shirt, with dark blue pants to match. It was a military uniform, but Dylan didn't recognize what organization or branch of the U.S. Armed Forces it came from.

_Who is he?_

"Welcome, Lieutenant Morton," he began, his voice firm and resolute.

"Huh?" Dylan asked, his face surprised. "You're a hologram…how do you know my name?"

"There's not much time left," he answered. "So I'll explain it, short and simple. On August 10th, 2055, the Noah's Ark Plan became successful."

He took a couple steps toward the hologram, raising an eyebrow. "Year 2055?! What are you talking about?"

"To save the dinosaurs, we transferred the dinosaurs to this time—three million years ahead of our time," the hologram continued.

Dylan's eyes grew wide in disbelief, and he turned his back to the hologram, walking toward the girl. "What?! Three million years?" He turned to the girl, something clicking in his head. "Then you're from…"

"However," the hologram continued, "There was another accident when we were about to go back. The gate disappeared, and we were stranded in this time."

He turned and looked at the hologram. "So this…this is the future," Dylan said softly.

"There was no way for us to survive in this world, where dinosaurs now rule," he continued. We, the remaining survivors, hurried to recover the gate. But it's too late now. My wife, Julia, was killed by the dinosaurs. And my loving child, she was hurt...badly. Paula…Paula."

The girl lifted her head, turned it toward the hologram. Her bright eyes reflected the pale blue light emitted by the hologram. "Paul…Paula…Paula…" Dylan turned, and saw an image on one of the projector screens—it was a girl, smiling, her hair short, blond, looking almost identical to the girl now here. She looked young, smiling, wearing an orange long-sleeved shirt and blue jeans.

"Paula?" Dylan asked, looking at her. "Paula? Is that your name?"

Her eyes remained fixed on the hologram. "Papa…" she uttered, reaching out a hand toward him.

_Is he her father?_

"My only mission now is to protect my group," the hologram resumed. "I have kept Paula and the other children safe by placing them in life-support chambers, which are what all these glass tubes are. They were made to withstand anything."

Dylan turned behind him, and noticed that the one closest to him had been opened.

"I ask this of you, Lieutenant. Please, take the children back to _your _time, to 2010. And now I think I should introduce myself. I am former Special Forces T.R.A.T. member, Colonel Dylan Morton."

----------------------------------

End of Chapter 11. Yep…if anywhere in this novel and/or game anywhere gets lost, it's here. Hopefully I've provided enough of the documents and dialogue to attempt to alleviate that confusion, but if you have questions, email me, , with the subject line "DC2 story question," so I know it's from a reader. Now, looking ahead to Chapter 12, if you played the game, you know what happens. Just letting all of you know—this novel is getting very close to the end. It looks like I'll write Chapter 12, then the Epilogue, which will end the novelization. Hope you like it so far, and I want reviews. Chapter 12 is up, so read on.


	13. Point of No Return

Note: Since doesn't keep all special formatting, let me explain. There are sections of this chapter in which it looks like Dylan's looking at words on a computer screen. In the original file, there are different fonts and small caps formatting. However, since throws them away, I had to adjust here. Everything you see in **_bold italics_** represent the words on a computer screen. With that said, on to Chapter 12!

**Chapter Twelve: Point of No Return**

T.R.A.T member Lieutenant Dylan Morton stood there, floored, in open-mouthed shock as the last statement of the hologram sank into his mind. On another of the projection screens, he could see a picture of himself in front of the Timegate, looking like he was walking into it.

_"Special Forces T.R.A.T. member, Colonel Dylan Morton."_

"What?!" Dylan yelled angrily, totally baffled. "You're…myself? In the future? How the hell is that possible?"

The young Morton looked over at Paula, who then looked into his eyes, aglow with seeming fascination. "Papa…"

The fact slammed into his mind as he was uttering the words, "Then that means you're my…"

_…daughter. You're my daughter…_

He never took his gaze off her, the cold realization of it all hitting him at last, what this whole mission was from the start, from the moment the ship landed into the now-realized "fake" Cretaceous, to everything going now. He was misled, misguided, misinformed, no…lied to by the powers that be, lied about everything. This wasn't something that was recent—this was a long, involved, tragic story spanning many years, ages, and epochs. Regina, himself, David, the information about the people involved in the Ibis Island incident, all tools for our government, miserable pawns in their game. Suddenly, everything on the six commemoration monuments, all those documents he found, the helmeted females, clicked in synchronous harmony, the sudden epiphany, the realization of it all.

He lowered his head, a sudden sadness making his heart heavy, slowly being replaced by deep, seething anger.

_All those people…the result of a fuck-up by our wonderful government. Just what did Dr. Edward Kirk think when he created the Third Energy? Did he think our government would turn his work into this? A weapon? Worse? Did he imagine that such a thing would happen? We were all used…we were all played so well, playing right into the government's hands. And when the people who were involved realized what they had done, screwing up the rest of time, they attempted to fix it, and this is the end result—the eventual end of the human race. Now, to save the human race from total extinction, it is up to me to take all the ones in the life-support chambers and send them through a Timegate._

"We don't have much time left," Colonel Morton continued. "There's a gate behind the door, ahead in the room after the oversized Transport Chamber, the passage to the Gate Development Lab. You can return to your own time." Ahead, Dylan could see the large, translucent door sliding upward.

"The gate is fully operational, but this facility only has enough capability to be used only once." The holographic image of Colonel Morton began to fizzle, started to fade.

"Wait! Don't go yet!" Dylan called to him. "I have some more to say!"

"Please," Colonel Morton said. "Say hello to Regina for me, Lieutenant."

"Papa…" Paula uttered softly, taking a step toward the hologram of the older Morton.

His image nearly faded from all view, and as the last of the hologram faded, his last words seemed to echo throughout the large laboratory room: "I'm counting on you, Lieutenant."

And once again, silence settled throughout the large room.

_Damn…I wanted to get more information about this whole thing. But…the Timegate's near. _

He brought his intercom to his mouth and clicked the power button.

"Regina?" Dylan spoke into the speaker. "Regina, it's Dylan. Can you read?"

He suddenly remembered that her intercom was out, and reaching her would be impossible. Briefly, he considered going back the way he got here, but his mind determined otherwise—the Timegate was near, and escape was now looking very likely. Besides, she could even be there, waiting for him.

"Come on, Paula," he said, managing a grin. "Let's get out of here."

The door that opened led to another one of those odd doors, only being able to be opened via an object in Paula's wrist. The thin object slid into the tiny hole in the door, and in a couple seconds, the door revealed a room, a long, lengthy room, probably as long as two football fields or so. The walkway narrowed to a bridge, and as the two walked across the bridge, Dylan noticed a long hallway to his left, leading to blackness, blue lights lining the wall.

_So close…_

The two stopped dead in their tracks when an alarm suddenly blared throughout the entire transport chamber, echoing off the industrial gray walls. Paula let out a shriek and covered her ears, the sound annoying and grating. Dylan ran to his daughter, covering her with his body, his eyes darting around the room, looking for anything.

_Now what? What the hell is it this time?!_

A deep thudding footstep was heard some distance down the long hall, coming from the deep blackness.

"Warning," a voice said, cutting through the blaring noise of the sirens—a calm, cool, collected female voice. "The self-destruct sequence has just been manually activated. Repeat: the self-destruct sequence has just been manually activated. This sequence cannot be overridden or aborted. Detonation in five minutes. Repeat: detonation in five minutes."

_Of course. Absolutely typical. Right on schedule. Standard procedure in situations like these. Even so…fuck!_

His eyes looked toward the door from where they entered—and he saw the door open, and out came another of the helmeted women. Anger shot through him instantly, his face showing a look of madness. He let out a low growl, and Paula quickly shot to her feet and began to run away, down the bridge. She took her gun and fired, two of those strange disks flying in Dylan's direction. He easily dodged them, anger running through his veins, running back toward the door, toward the one helmeted female. She aimed at the running soldier, firing two more disks. He quickly grabbed his machete and sliced through the air, deflecting the disks, pieces of exploding shrapnel flying away from him.

"_YOU turned it on!!!_" he yelled, his voice sounding almost primal, feral as he got closer to the unrelenting woman. She began to run toward Dylan. Before he could grab her, she ducked under the reach of his arms and took off toward the bridge.

"Oh, no you don't, you bitch!" he swore, then turned around, giving chase toward the fleeing female. She was running across the wide bridge, and Dylan easily caught up, his muscular legs giving him the needed speed. He dove into her, wrapping his arms around her as he was falling, taking her down with him to the cold metal floor. The two wrestled around on the floor, Dylan trying to pin her down, her trying to flee. The two rolled along the gray metal, grunting and groaning.

A loud _thud_ caught Dylan's attention, this time sounding closer. He got up in time to see it, see the mammoth beast emerging into view from down the hall. In the light, he could see its blackened head, the dark orange and brown splotched skin adorning its entire body, very thick.

_Oh, not now._

"Four minutes until detonation."

_Shit._

Not even allowing time for anything else to react, Dylan ran down the bridge in Paula's direction. The creature let out a loud roar, and it moved quickly toward the bridge. The helmeted woman got up and began to follow Dylan, but the creature refused to let something as measly and as flimsy as a metal bridge stop it. It brought its huge head down, and as she was fleeing, he lifted it up with amazing force, sending the metal sections of the bridge flying up, and she found herself airborne, her limbs flailing as she ascended thirty or forty feet. Dylan looked behind him to see her start falling, falling to the concrete floor below. A loud crash echoed through the transport chamber as the large block pieces of bridge slammed to the floor, followed by the soft thud of the body. The enormous reptilian beast continued its march forward, stepping over the ruined bridge. Nothing was spared in its path, its massive foot landing on the unfortunate female, the tremendous weight smashing it, squashing it as if it were an insect. As the massive pressure came down on her, Dylan could hear the sounds of plastic breaking, the helmet splintering. Blood shot out everywhere, staining the concrete red.

He never stopped running; the only thing on his mind was to get to safety, away from this creature.

_Forget killing the behemoth—I have no weapon powerful enough to even possibly make a dent through its thick skin_.

The walkway led to another bridge, leading to a platform, on it several screens and control panels. As Dylan dashed along the bridge, the lumbering beast lifted its head up high, then slammed it down hard, smashing the section to pieces, missing him by only a few feet.

_Don't you give up?!_

The creature moved forward toward the running soldier, and as it did, lifted its massive head up high once more, preparing for another assault. It moved ahead of Dylan, the idea being to knock out the bridge so he couldn't make it to the platform, in effect, trapping him. As the towering monstrosity began to bring its heavy head down, Dylan dove, his entire body fully extended, arms outstretched as he passed under the falling head. He could feel the air displacing behind him as the Giganotosaurus rammed into the bridge, turning the walkway to smashed rubble, the sounds of breaking and destruction echoing throughout the large transport chamber.

"Three minutes until detonation," the female voice said over the speaker.

His body hit the cold floor hard, but the brief pain of impact that shot through his body was better than being down the gullet of a giant reptilian beast.

"Damage confirmed at Oversized Transport Area. Commencing emergency lockdown procedure," came a computerized female voice. Dylan heard a panicked cry coming from his right, and as he lifted his head, he could see Paula, her eyes wide with fear as she stood by the exit door. Another door was coming down in front of her, blocking Dylan's access to the exit door. It slammed shut, trapping the young Morton inside the newly formed enclosure.

_Fuck!_

The creature let out a roar which rocked the entire room, and he looked at the display of screens and computer keyboards in front. He ran to the panels and looked at the words on the monitor, set to a background of dark brown and black.

**_Third Energy Anti-Satellite Weapon System v3.5_**

**_Weapon Control System_**

**_Logged In as: Morton, Dylan; Colonel._**

_**Warning! Self-Destruct Sequence manually activated!**_

_**Time left until self-destruct: 2 minutes, 47 seconds.**_

_**Evacuate immediately!**_

**_The Anti-Satellite weapon is not ready. Check and fix the errors below, then retry the System._**

**_Communication Line: Not Connected._**

**_Target: Not Set._**

He looked to his left, and he could see another screen set into the wall at the end, a keyboard directly below it. The creature let out another roar and began to follow Dylan as he ran for the next screen. It opened its enormous jaw, and Dylan could see clearly the two rows of teeth, each one probably around his height. It lunged for him, and Dylan just outran its attempt, grabbing his shotgun and firing behind him. The head crashed into the wall, creating a hole in it, creating a pile of debris on the path.

_Getting a little close there…_

When he reached the end of the platform a couple hundred feet away from the lumbering beast, he took a look at the screen, that same background. He looked at the text on the screen:

**Third Energy Anti-Satellite Weapon System v3.5**

**Communication Line Connection Manager**

**Logged In as: Morton, Dylan; Colonel.**

**Communication Line is currently disconnected. Will you connect the line? **

**YES NO MAIN MENU**

He clicked the YES button, and suddenly the screen changed to a background image of some sort of control tower sending waves to a satellite orbiting the planet.

**_Connecting...._**

**_Connection to Anti-Satellite enabled._**

"Communication line is now set," a computerized female voice spoke. He couldn't stop for a second—he saw the reptilian beast come toward him again, quickly. It roared again, and Dylan shielded his face as he could feel the hot breath crash into him, a foul stench providing a pungent aroma which invaded his nostrils.

_Jeez, man…they're called breath mints for a reason…_

It opened its jaw, and Dylan could see straight to the back of its cavernous mouth. Its head was blocking the path—he was trapped. It would snatch him up in seconds. A strange, bizarre thought entered his mind, a foolish one, one that had a slight chance of at least giving him a diversion. He pulled out his Chainmine, and aimed it at the large mouth. As it got within feet of him, he pulled the trigger, and five thin disks flew into the dinosaur's mouth. The first one exploded, then the other four followed in quick succession, blood shooting out from the creature's mouth, bits of tooth raining down along the platform. It reared its head back, roaring in pain as it stumbled back a few steps, giving Dylan a clear path. With whatever energy he had in his legs, he bolted down the walkway, sprinting past the main panel as the dinosaur let out another roar of pain, echoing off the walls of the cavernous room.

The platform led to a narrow path going along the length of one side of the transport chamber. It led to the area where Paula was now trapped, but a small walkway branched off, leading to another of those screens. By now, Dylan had put several hundred feet of distance between him and the gigantic creature wanting to eat him. The pain inflicted from the mines had worn off the creature, and it let out another bellowing roar, and Dylan knew it was pissed. The creature made a full turn around, and began moving quickly in his direction, its massive, muscular legs giving it speed. Each step vibrated the floor, getting stronger with each step forward.

"Almost there, Paula," he said to himself. "Just give me a little bit more time."

He looked at the screen, saw the words brightly displayed against the background.

**Third Energy Anti-Satellite Weapon System v3.5**

**Target Control Setup**

_**Logged In as: Morton, Dylan; Colonel.**_

_**Set target for Weapon Fire:**_

_**Current Location: Habitiat Support Facility, New Pangaea, North American Section.**_

_**Set New Location.**_

_**Back to Main Menu.**_

_**1 23**_

He clicked option 1, and the screen went blank for a few seconds, then some more text appeared.

**_Calibrating…_**

**_Setting target…_**

**_Target set. Information sent to weapon._**

"Target is set," the voice said as Dylan dove out of another lunge from the Giganotosaurus. He somersaulted, and rose to his feet quickly, and ran along the platform, heading back toward the main control panel.

It turned its massive body around once more began to chase the fleeing soldier, its prey. The main panel for the weapon seemed much farther away than it actually looked, and as Dylan raced against the clock, the dinosaur was quickly closing the gap between it and the scrambling soldier. He could feel its hot breath catching his back, and knew it was close, its jaws open, waiting for the exact second it could clamp its jaws around him, not knowing that it too, was about to die. In one quick effort to give him some more time, he turned and fired his Chainmine weapon once more, and five more small explosive mines fired into its mouth, exploding almost on impact inside the cavernous crevasse. Bits of dinosaur tongue flew from its mouth, the wet, bloodied muscle chunks hitting the floor with a sick splat, and it roared loudly, a loud, feral roar of pain.

"Two minutes until detonation."

While it was reeling from that, Dylan nearly ran past the display of screens and keyboards, and he stopped short, almost stumbling as he did so. He knew he only had a few seconds before the dinosaur would be on him again, and he looked at the main screen:

**_Third Energy Anti-Satellite Weapon System v3.5_**

**_Weapon Control System_**

**_Logged In as: Morton, Dylan; Colonel._**

**_Warning! Self-Destruct Sequence manually activated!_**

**_Time left until self-destruct: 1 minute, 52 seconds._**

**_Weapon now ready to fire. Fire weapon?_**

**_YES NO_**

Without wasting another second, he clicked YES, and the screen went black, showing an outlined image of a planet, and as he turned around, he just looked at the mammoth in front of him and grinned.

"Commencing attack," he said to himself, smiling.

Many miles above the surface of Earth, miles above the atmosphere, a large satellite was orbiting the planet, hovering over a position in New Pangaea. Information was streaming from the planet's surface to the large body. Data flashed across its one screen, and suddenly the satellite was expanding, and four large, metallic flaps began to open in an X formation, revealing a long, powerful gun, looking like a large rail cannon. The satellite began to hum to life, warming up for what it was about to do, and light began to gather, surrounding the gun in blue and white light, getting increasingly brighter as it was preparing to fire. With the flaps fully opened, the satellite readjusted itself, aligning itself up with its target, the Habitat Support Facility. A ball of white light started to form at the tip of the cannon, growing larger and brighter. Suddenly, the satellite made a high-pitched noise, getting louder and louder, sounding like a starship preparing to jump to warp speed, and then a massive ray of blue and white energy shot through space, quickly slicing through the many layers of Earth's atmosphere.

A bright beam of light cut through the darkening sky, the sun sinking, the rays of the sun reflecting off the clouds in such a way that the refracted beams gave off a somewhat heavenly, cosmic appearance. The beam of energy cut right through the roof of the building, and slammed into the dinosaur. He had to cover his ears, for the sounds of the beam made it seem like the facility was being rent in two, and he had to squint his eyes from the bright intensity of the beam, but he could see the dinosaur trying to escape the beam, trying to run from the massive force pinning it to the ground. Chunks of concrete and metal flew upward as the beam cut into the ground. It let out a massive roar that vibrated the platform on which Dylan stood, and all the soldier do was stare in total, amazed wonder as chunks of the once-mighty Giganotosaurus began to disappear, being totally vaporized and obliterated by the satellite weapon beam. It opened its jaw wide, screaming in pain as it was being split into unrecognizable forms. The sheer force of the entire process knocked Dylan against the wall, knocking the wind out of him, and he fell to the floor. In just a few seconds, it was over, the brightness of the large beam gone as quickly as it arrived.

---------------------------------

She kicked the door, but to no avail. She was surrounded by computers on all sides, a machine in the middle of the section, probably for a computer display or something. The entire facility was one big question mark inside her head, and each step of progression only made her delve further and further into confusion. Regina had seen the typed notes in the rooms before, saw the commemoration monuments at the outside of the facility and started to understand. The documents at least explained the origins of those helmeted females that seemed to be a nuisance for this entire mission. Also, she could start to understand what seemed to be the true purpose of Dr. Kirk's work—at least, from the government's perspective.

_Third Energy was designed to be a weapon, but did Dr. Kirk envision that the government would take his work and do this with it? Did he think that the government would take all of his research, his work, and create a disaster so catastrophic as to wipe out the human race, causing a skew in the fabric of space and time making it so that the race never existed? What I did, along with Rick and Gail a year ago now makes me pity him…I thought he was a creep, someone to be feared and hated, a very dangerous man, but we were wrong—we were wrong this whole time. And now our government, in its infinite wisdom, has created a fuck-up of epic proportions, causing the downfall of our own race. Oh, goodie! Look at the product of the government's haste for results, instant gratification: many hundreds, thousands, possibly billions of lives lost, unnecessarily. Much time and energy spent to try to repair its mess-up. By the time the people involved knew the true extent of this whole debacle, it was too late—the dinosaurs had taken over. And now I'm trapped in this fucking room because a self-destruct sequence was manually activated, and some stupid lockdown procedure has locked all the doors! _

She felt the floor suddenly shake violently, briefly, and a loud crashing could be heard in the next room, accompanied by a muffled roar, probably from a large dinosaur. Sparks suddenly shot out behind her as one of the wires snapped, and from somewhere near the entrance to the large laboratory hall, the sounds of glass crashing to the floor filled the room made her eyes grow wide with surprise. She turned around and ran, ran back up the stairs to the source of the sound. At the top of the stairs, she turned into a section of the glass tubes, and she felt the shattered glass crunch beneath her boots. The metal floor was covered in glass shards and clear, viscous fluid, luckily, odorless. As she turned a corner, she could see a person lying on the floor, facedown, the limbs sprawled out. She kneeled down next to the lifeless body, and turned the body over, her hands feeling cold fluid. She could see the face of a boy, a young child probably no more than fourteen or fifteen, fair-skinned, his short black hair matted down to his head. He wore a uniform similar to those of those helmeted females—a black, leather rider jacket, but instead of tight, short black shorts, he wore black pants. Regina put her hand to his heart, and fortunately, she could feel a pulse, very slow, very faint.

_He's alive…which means probably everyone suspended in these tanks are._

As much as she wanted to carry him out of here before the self-destruct timer ran out, she knew that she couldn't.

"Emergency lockdown procedure ending. All doors opening to expedite evacuation." She got up, looking sorrowfully at the sleeping child, knowing that in just a couple minutes, he and all the others in this large lab room would be obliterated. She could see the large door at the bottom of the room opening up, receding into the ceiling. Without wasting another second, she ran down the double flight of stairs, and opened the odd-looking door, leaving the children behind.

_So this is also the government's handiwork…children. Children needlessly created to cover up our government's fuck-ups—the saviors of the human race. _

----------------------------------

All that could be heard were the blaring sirens once more. Other than that, silence.

"Ugh," Dylan moaned, clutching and rubbing his head. The force of the emergent beam sent him back, hitting his head on a wall. He rose to his feet slowly, his head throbbing, making him feel a little disoriented for a few seconds. Pulling his hand away, he saw no blood. He walked to the edge of the platform and looked over to survey the damage.

He saw a _huge _hole in the floor where the dinosaur was, probably fifty feet in diameter and stretching down for an undetermined amount of feet. The blast cut a huge path of destruction, and he could see smoking remains coming from the earthen walls created by the powerful energy beam.

_Holy fucking shit…that beam totally obliterated the creature. Hot shit!_

A female voice brought him back to reality. "One minute until detonation."

The emergency lockdown door opened slowly, revealing a scared Paula huddled in the corner by the door, her entire body shaking.

"One minute until detonation. Commencing secondary countdown. Fifty nine, fifty eight…"

_Let's get out of here, finally._

He ran back along the platform, which, luckily, still held, despite it taking heavy abuse. When he arrived at the doorway, Paula lifted her head, and Dylan could see her eyes watery, bloodshot, tears shed from fear.

Dylan smiled and reached out his hand. "Let's go, Paula," he said softly, and a smile began to form at the corners of her mouth as she took his hand, pulled herself up. She waked to the door and raised her wrist, and in a couple seconds, the door slid open, revealing a long corridor, with tall computers, probably as tall as double Dylan's, maybe more, lining the room. At the end of this room, there it was—the structure that he'd been looking for; the one thing he'd been searching for seemingly ages, just feet in front of him.

_The Timegate. Yes!_

He looked at his daughter again, smiling. "It'll be ok." Next to the Timegate was a control panel, and he recognized the screen layout—similar to the Timegate screen back in the present time. He touched some buttons, set the time for the present year—2010—and hit a confirmation button. Suddenly, he could see the air move in front of the Timegate, the way air looks rising from the ground on a hot, summer day. A ball of white light formed at the center, then grew outward quickly, and quick flashes of jagged light emanated from the keyboard, making crackling sounds that filled the room. The light ball expanded, then shrunk to nothing, the air around the structure waving.

"Forty six, forty five, forty four…"

_She's not here…damn. Maybe she already escaped? If she didn't…I can't stay, or I'll die too…_

Behind him, he could hear the door opening. Both Mortons looked behind them, and Dylan made out the slender, sexy, red-headed figure of Regina. He looked up toward the ceiling.

_Now you're just showing off._

"Regina!" he yelled, and her eyes grew wide with surprise.

"Dylan!" she cried, running over to him. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah—the gate's all ready to go. We don't have much time left. Let's go through this gate and get the hell out of here!"

"Agreed—whoa!" she yelled as an explosion from somewhere nearby in the facility shook the room violently, causing her to fall forward. The sudden shaking of the facility caused one of the computers to fall forward, sparks flying and electricity sizzling. It was falling toward Paula rapidly, and for a second, she was frozen in paralyzed shock, and Dylan's eyes grew wide with fear.

"Move, Paula!" he yelled, and as it neared the ground, feet above her head, Paula began to dive out of the way of the falling computer—but not fast enough as the towering, heavy structure fell hard on her legs, pulling her body down to the ground. Regina could hear the unnatural snap of bone as the machine crushed her legs, definitely breaking them. She let out a wail, a piercing shriek of pain as she became trapped beneath the computer.

When the shaking ended, the two of them got up and ran toward her, grabbing both ends of the heavy computer. With a mighty grunt, Dylan heaved, pushing with every ounce of his strength. Regina did the same, but their efforts were proving useless. They tried again in unison, but the computer didn't even budge.

"No!" Dylan grunted through gritted teeth. "No! _NO!_"

"Papa…" Paula moaned softly, tears streaming down her cheeks, her hair wild and in disarray.

"Paula!" Dylan grunted, still trying to push the computer off her. It was no use.

"Dylan!" Regina began. "What are we going to do? If we don't leave now, we'll never get back!"

Suddenly, an idea entered Dylan's mind—an idea that was crazy, bizarre, totally and utterly stupid, but he had to say it.

"Regina," he said firmly. "The gate is open. I know you don't want to, but you'll have to go back by yourself. I won't leave Paula."

Regina's face grew annoyed. "Are you fuckin' crazy?!"

"Just go, please!" Dylan shot back. "You have the Third Energy data disk, right?" She reached into her pocket and pulled out the shiny disk, encased in clear blue plastic, and reached it out to Dylan.

"When you get back to our original time, use the data to learn about the Third Energy, then build the perfect gate and come pick us up for the last time."

Regina's face softened, and Dylan could see her eyes becoming watery.

"I...Dylan…" she started, her voice choking up. "I will. I promise…"

"Final warning," the female's voice echoed. "Ten seconds until detonation."

Regina turned around, walked up just in front of the Timegate, and turned to Dylan once more.

"Remember, you _still _owe me one!" she said.

"Well, then," Dylan replied, "you better get back quick." He raised his arm and brought his hand to his forehead in a formal military salute.

Regina returned the salute, her face looking determined. She looked at the two once again, then ran through the Timegate, her body disappearing the final countdown hit zero.

The first set of the timed explosive charges went off in the Missile Silo, obliterating what the missile didn't, sending chunks of debris flying over the landscape. The next set of charges began to go off inside the facility, and as violent shaking broke out in the control room, Paula looked at her father, her eyes panicked and fearful.

"Papa!"

He looked at her and smiled warmly, and as a charge exploded just above them, he shielded her with his muscular body. The blast hit a computer directly in front of them, sending it toppling toward them. As the computer was falling directly toward them, he clutched her, held her close. And as the large machine was falling on them, the rest of the explosive charges exploded all around them, pieces of metal, concrete and other materials becoming debris, scattering all over the landscape, all over the ground, everything being destroyed.

Only the nearest reptiles could hear the explosion, and only the Pterodactyls could see the bright ball of orange that lit up the horizon.

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End of Chapter Twelve, and the end of the Dino Crisis II story. However, guess what, you guys?! My novel's not over yet! There's one more chapter following this—the Epilogue. One more chapter remains! Let me know how this story's going with a review! Hope you're enjoying it thus far. Read on for the final chapter, Epilogue.


	14. Epilogue: Another Jump into the Prehisto...

Author's Note: This is it, the final chapter in this novel. I hope you all have enjoyed reading this—I've had fun writing it. Here it is.

**Epilogue: Another Jump into the Prehistoric**

_**Five years later…**_

_Five long years has passed since the incident, and doubts are starting to weigh on my mind. It has been five years ago today since I jumped through the Timegate, leaving Dylan and Paula in the Habitat Support Facility. Dylan Morton had requested me to take the Third Energy disk recovered in a missile silo nearby and learn it, study it, and build another Timegate, then pick them up and return them here. After the incident, and subsequent self-destruction of the buildings, including the one where Dylan and Paula last were seen, some high ranking officials of our United States government wanted a commission to be created, the purpose being to study the effects and events of the entire incident—what went wrong, what happened, all of the intricate details and minutia that the higher-ups in the Third Energy Project didn't want to be made known. These high-ranking officials that wanted this commission created were acting independently of the rest of the government, many of them questioning the government's decision with taking up the Third Energy project on moral grounds—not religious, per se, but on moral, common ethical grounds._

_The entire mission, which started out as a simple search and rescue mission—the rescuing of a thousand survivors, and also the recovery of the Third Energy data, was nothing but—in fact, almost quite the opposite._

_The entire mission, all told, left many hundreds dead, perhaps thousands, including a military compound, an entire city with soldiers, researchers, other personnel, and civilians living in the city proper. Also, due to an encounter with an Allosaurus located on the river between the Third Energy Missile Silo and the Habitat Support Facility, T.R.A.T. member David Fork suffered his untimely death. Overall, the mission, other than the successful retrieval of the data disk containing all of the information, including the history of, experiments, and biographies of all involved, was a total failure. The only known survivor to this point, officially, anyway, is I. Then again, we haven't built another Timegate since I came back to 2010, so we don't know. _

_When the Third Energy Incident Commission was created just a couple weeks after the incident, the government involved in the Third Energy Project quickly closed the book on it. By this time, the press had gotten a whiff of something fishy, and wanted to track it down, and get as much juicy information as possible. Of course, as we all know about our government, we all know that the majority of our politicians are lying, conniving, sneaky heartless bastards that care nothing for the lives of the general public, or its pawns that work for them. Naturally, our government denied everything and anything about the Third Energy Project, and subsequent things relating. It was this denial, this lie to the public that spawned the creation of the Third Energy Incident Commission, made up of a couple hundred people. At its head are four individuals: myself, Gail; the head of our S.O.R.T. group in the Ibis Island incident, Rick; the soldier/techie/computer hack of our S.O.R.T. group in the Ibis Island incident, and finally, Dr. Edward Kirk, creator of the Third Energy._

_Our mission, in addition to researching and discovering details about the incident five years ago, is to build yet another Timegate and jump back, or forward, rather, into the "Paradise" Cretaceous period which was created for the dinosaurs and the human race and nab any survivors, if any. Our government, after they collected Dr. Kirk's research on the Third Energy, took it to the extreme. While originally designed to be a weapon, yes—Dr. Kirk never intended it to be taken to the extremes that our wonderful, fucked-up government took it to, which ultimately caused a rip in space and time, causing what would be the downfall of the human race. _

_Finally, four years later, we managed to build a suitable Timegate enabling us to go back and learn what we needed to. We did learn from documents found in the Habitat Support Facility that as a result of the government's screw up in 2009, just a few months after acquiring Dr. Kirk's work, they did experimentation which concluded that as a result of the rip in the continuum, the human race would be subsequently wiped out. Well, if that was the case, then I wouldn't be sitting here at this computer writing this, now would I? Obviously, the experiment following their perennial fuck-up proved inaccurate—I mean, I'm still here, anyway. With experiments and research done from a team headed by Edward Kirk, it was the conclusion that while yes, they did cause a rip in the fabric of space and time, it was localized to that 'world.' This lends credence to the newly-developing "String Theory," which involves particles of matter traversing dimensions, realms. What had happened was simply this: our government, as per usual, had no idea what the hell they were doing. They had no idea of how potentially dangerous the Third Energy was. After all, they did what most young, silly children do when they get a chemistry set—forget to read the warnings. They're printed on the pages for a reason—when they nabbed all the research from Ibis Island and Kirk, they never bothered to take all of the necessary precautions, and as a result, the surrounding military installation, Edward City, got essentially thrown into another realm, another Earth. There was no "Space-time skew," in our current realm, our lifetime, as the Noah's Ark Plan document describes. In that realm, yes. In that other realm, parallel universe of Earth, yes, there was a rip in the fabric of space and time in 2009 AD, plunging them back into the Cretaceous period of dinosaurs. Our government did not tell us this in any briefing whatsoever._

_But our government knew. They had known from the start. Somewhere in their top secret files, they knew what had happened. They also knew that they now had the ability to jump universes and dimensions. Of course, our government tried its best to cover up their own blunder—they were doing what they do best: lie, cheat, conceal, and deceive. Our government sent troops and other military personnel merely to serve as a peacekeeping force. They had all believed what our government had told them—that they were going back into the past, to help protect the researchers and civilians doing important research in the name of science and technology. Apparently, this only proves one thing—that we, as a people, and as a volunteer army, are nothing but expendable pawns. _

_In the alternate universe, the researchers had realized the error of our government and had no choice but to find a way to get back to their own time. To get back to 2009, they had worked long and hard. In addition, they had a constant threat to contend with—the dinosaurs themselves. Somewhere along the line, the aim changed. It was no longer a mission to save the human race and get back to 2009, but became a mission to save the dinosaurs from extinction and save the human race as well. I don't know why they decided this, but their ultimate goal was to have humans and dinosaurs coexist with each other. So work began on that project, and in the year 2055 AD, their realm, the plan finally became successful. In that realm, there was another Dylan Morton who was the head of the W.A.P.P—the Working Association for Prehistoric Peace, a council who ran the work to enact the Noah's Ark plan. It was divided into two parts—first, get the dinosaurs and the humans to a time in Earth's future in which environmental conditions would be equal, or near equal to the Cretaceous. This was determined to be three million years later, when all the continents once again become one, called New Pangaea. Second, after the dinosaurs were safely transported to that time, then the humans would return to the current time—which would be then, our 2055 AD. _

_In the alternate universe, our 2055 AD is still Cretaceous period in theirs. So, they jumped ahead three million years and successfully transported the dinosaurs, and the human race. However, they would never make the return trip. Our government knew, obviously, that should all those people make it back, they could not all be silenced—they would definitely go public with their information. So, they sent in some people who acted along with the people, but were actually saboteurs. When they had to return, the governmental saboteurs destroyed the activator for the Timegate, and made it appear an accident. They were trapped. And with their only means of returning now destroyed, they would never return. Luckily, on their many trips to the future, they brought many building materials and provisions with them—this would be a lengthy venture. So, they built research facilities, military instillations, and the Habitat Support Facility. The Habitat Support Facility was designed to capture dinosaurs, and with the technological life-support chambers built for them, the dinosaurs were supposed to have instilled in them the means to coexist peacefully with the humans. However, that never came to fruition, and so the human race was becoming extinct. So, children were created, and it would be decided that the children, rather than the dinosaurs, would remain in suspended animation in the life-support tubes, programmed to be opened when they came of age, estimated to be eighteen. Since the information programmed in the machines contained only the needed information to be able to coexist peacefully with the dinosaur creatures, something was lost—their ability to speak. While they could carry on the functions of most humans, they couldn't speak, since there would be no humans to teach them. These children would reproduce, and so on, and so forth, saving the human race. _

_They would be quite unlucky—one of the children grew angry, and was rebellious—she saw us as a threat to her, a threat to the dinosaurs. Naturally, this could be attributed to their programming, their instinct. However, this female figure had manually activated a self-destruct mechanism, a fail-safe the government installed to further wipe all traces of anything. They did have the know-how to make another Timegate, and they did. Our government grew wary again, and in addition to programming the children with the knowledge of peaceful coexistence with the dinosaurs, they added the knowledge of how to trip the self-destruct. This girl manually activated it, and as Dylan Morton, his daughter Paula, and myself prepared to leave through the Timegate, something exploded, causing a computer to fall on his daughter. Because he didn't want to leave his daughter behind, he told me to go by myself, build a gate, then return here to pick us up…and now, five years later, I get to do it. Why wasn't it sooner, when we first managed to recreate the Timegate? Simple—we had only done experiments with one person going through and back. Then, after it was successful, we tried with more people, and now, we've discovered, we can take large groups and sent them through time without damage. _

_I hope they're still alive. I hope you're still there, Dylan._

She clicked "submit" on the computer screen, and the entry uploaded to her own computer journal, which was connected to the rest of the T.E.I.C. She had wanted to type up this entry today—in just a few short minutes, she and a group of scientists would go back to the spot of the Timegate in the Habitat Support Facility in the alternate realm. They would all get inside a large, wheeled vehicle, almost like an RV, which contained a Timegate, and teleport themselves to where the former Timegate was—this was where she had last seen Dylan and Paula five years ago. Inside her locker, there was a uniform, but not the same, gray, sleek S.O.R.T. uniform—this uniform was made of entirely black material, which tightly hugged the skin, allowing for ease of movement in jungle territory. Personally, she had thought that the uniform was designed solely for males to get erections by looking at the firm outline of a woman's chest, the delicate curves of a woman's buttocks. Regardless, she changed out of her normal uniform, and changed into the black one. Also inside her locker was a shotgun, almost the same one Dylan had—it used clips containing shotgun shells which loaded quickly.

She took the gun and slung it around her body, then made her way through the halls of the T.E.I.C. facility, and she met up with Rick outside in a wide section of tarmac. Rick would be on this expedition as well, and he greeted Regina.

"Are we ready?" he asked.

"Ready as we're going to be. Everyone else inside?" she replied.

"Yep. Let's go," Rick answered, then climbed inside the wide vehicle. It was tall enough to stand in, and the walkway was wide enough for two people. Computers and seats lined the walls, and the small, but ample Timegate was in the back.

"Timegate all ready?" she asked loudly.

"Yes, ma'am!" one male researcher replied.

"Ready to jump?" Rick asked.

"Yes, sir!" another answered.

"Let's go then!" Regina ordered. Suddenly, the vehicle came to life, a loud hum rising in pitch signaled commencement. A bright ball of light covered the vehicle, and for a brief instant, the vehicle shook as it began to jump time and space. Jagged lightning crackled in the air, and in a total of about thirty seconds, tops, the blinding white light cleared, and the vehicle started to shut down.

"We're here," a scientist observed.

Regina was the first to get off.

_Oh, I get the feeling of déjà vu. _

Here she was, back in the same spot she left five years ago. Her face was covered in bright sunlight, the former facility rubble. Ivy and tall grass could be seen growing, covering the walkway. Bits of computer part and rusted metal support beams were scattered around her. What was once a major facility was now becoming jungle. In the distance, high in the air, she could hear the sounds of Pterodactyls. She took slow steps forward, taking the entire sight in. It only seemed like yesterday where they were outrunning a giant Giganotosaurus, dodging a T-Rex, narrowly avoiding death everywhere. She could see where the tall computers used to be, lined against now cracked concrete and metal walls, the former industrial grayness of it all now rust. Two computers were on top of each other.

"Rick, come here for a sec, help me lift these things."

He came over and pushed one side of a computer while Regina pulled. It was lighter than she remembered—probably because much of the metal had rusted out. Her heart was pounding now—out of fear, excitement, she didn't know. When that one was lifted, she and Rick set to work on the other one, and when they moved it out of the way, Regina let out a horrified gasp.

There, lying on the ground, were two skeletons, their bones crushed. From the way the bones were arranged, it appeared that someone was huddled over the other, maybe to protect.

_Oh, no…it can't be…_

Clinging to their bones were tattered remains of clothing, chunks of it still firmly attached and intact. She recognized the black pieces of clothing—the rider jacket that those helmeted people wore—

_..the ones that Paula wore…_

And with a sudden knot in her stomach, and a lump in her throat, she took off a chunk of uniform from the other skeletal figure. On it, the writing was faded, but readable.

_T…R…A…T._

A sob escaped her throat, and she could feel a salty tear running down her face, falling off and hitting the earth below. She could feel the rough hand of Rick on her shoulder, a comforting arm, but there was no comfort here anymore. This was, without a doubt, Dylan Morton.

_And once again, the government kills off yet another of its pawns…_

She began to cry silently, not just for Dylan, but as the sudden implications thundered in her mind, turning her emotions into not just sadness, but of anger, of rage.

_This means that all those children in those life-support chambers…they're all gone too. Everything was destroyed…everything. The government did what it does best._

Another cold realization flashed in her mind, something she couldn't admit but now had to—the proof was right in front of her face.

_The dinosaurs never went extinct. _

_The human race no longer exists. In this world, we are gone, faded into history. _

_Nothing can bring them back. It's all over for them._

One more tear fell to the ground.

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This is the end of _Dino Crisis II: Jump into the Prehistoric_, by L. Loire. To all my readers who have read this narrative straight through, thank you so much. Please, let me know how you feel by sending me a review. To all those who gave me reviews, thank you very much for your feedback. I feel happy, yet sad that this ended, but, we all knew it would. Once again, thanks for reading this story. I hope that you all approve of my novelization of such a great game. I'll be back again.


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